Chelsea earned a valuable point in the Women’s Champions League on a night that marked Sonia Bompastor’s return to face her former club, OL Lyonnes. The match was surprisingly low on goalmouth action, but Chelsea’s controlled performance drew significant praise. Bompastor, who won the competition as both a player and a manager with Lyonnes, remains a popular figure at the club.
Lyonnes had been in formidable form, scoring eight times in their opening league phase fixture away to Servette and finding the net at least seven times in all four of their matches this season. Against that backdrop, Chelsea were grateful to Hannah Hampton for a sharp save from Salma Paralluelo on 20 minutes, and relieved to see Melchie Dumornay’s powerful effort fizz just wide of the base of the post shortly after. Veerle Buurman also produced a last-ditch challenge to block Marie-Antoinette Katoto’s attempt from inside the area, as Jonatan Giráldez’s side created the better first-half chances. Even so, Chelsea matched their hosts in midfield, and the first 45 minutes were relatively even, if disappointingly dull.
Lexi Potter, buoyed by her first senior England call-up on Tuesday, gave as good as she got in the physical midfield battle and looked at home on this stage at the record eight-time European champions. Alongside Keira Walsh, the 20-year-old helped Chelsea maintain a measure of control. The English side enjoyed the majority of possession but lacked a decisive edge in attack, though Melvine Malard, facing her former club, showed quick feet and lively movement leading the line.
Unlike in England, where Chelsea had played and won a fiery derby against Arsenal on Sunday, the top French sides were able to rest at the weekend between the first two European fixtures, as the French league helps its clubs stay fresh for the Champions League. Other French top-tier sides played in the League Cup instead. It was therefore reasonable to assume that Lyonnes might look the stronger as the contest wore on.
Chelsea, however, started the second period the brighter. They thought they deserved a penalty when Tarciane took out Sjoeke Nüsken at the far post just as the midfielder looked certain to score, but after a check on the monitor, Lucy Bronze was judged to have been interfering with play from an offside position as the ball was crossed. Tarciane was booked for her challenge nonetheless. Bompastor brought on Lauren James for Malard with just over half an hour remaining to give her side a different forward dynamic, while Lyonnes introduced former Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg. Neither side looked likely to break the deadlock, as the off-the-ball qualities of both teams cancelled each other out. A cautious approach from Chelsea was understandable; this was by some distance the toughest-looking fixture of their league phase, against last season’s runners-up.
Lyonnes, owned by Michele Kang, who also owns London City Lionesses and Washington Spirit, have high ambitions to win the title this term. They thought they had scored on 72 minutes when Paralluelo struck a low shot into the bottom corner, but the offside flag was raised. A few minutes later, a moment of real controversy arose when Chelsea were awarded a penalty for a foul by Damaris Egurrola on James. After a video assistant review, the decision was overturned, with the referee appearing to conclude that James had made contact with Egurrola rather than the other way around. The Lyonnes midfielder looked very fortunate to escape, having mistimed her tackle and missed the ball completely. Chelsea were exasperated.
James had Chelsea’s best chance late on, but her close-range strike was blocked by Maria Grohs in goal. At the other end, Hampton saved superbly from Hegerberg as the match finally came to life in the very late stages, and Maika Hamano dragged narrowly wide deep into stoppage time. The point gave Chelsea a platform to build on, with four points from their first two games.
In other Champions League action, Barcelona continued their emphatic start to their title defence by brushing aside Roma 6-0 in the Italian capital. Caroline Graham Hansen got Barça off the mark inside 20 minutes, and a Shukurat Oladipo own goal put them two up before the break. Claudia Pina made the points safe just after, before Graham Hansen and Pina both got their second goals and Ewa Pajor added a late sixth. Bayern Munich, who had given up a two-goal lead last week to draw with Manchester City, won 3-0 at Benfica thanks to three goals in the last 16 minutes from Klara Bühl, Pernille Harder and Franziska Kett. Juventus beat Häcken 3-0 in Sweden to make up for last Tuesday’s defeat against Benfica, with Alba Redondo scoring again to make it three goals in as many games and seven in 12 in all competitions since joining from Real Madrid.