Sonia Bompastor laments Chelsea's inability to 'kill' hope of Twente in UEFA Women's Champions League opening 1-1 draw - 'a bad result for us'

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Sonia Bompastor was left frustrated after Chelsea's UEFA Women's Champions League campaign began with a disappointing 1-1 draw with Twente. The Blues had 65% possession and 20 shots on goal but struggled to break down their Dutch opponents and after 63 minutes found themselves 1-0 down. Sandy Baltimore did level proceedings from the penalty spot but Bompastor could not hide her disappointment.

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Sonia Bompastor cited Chelsea’s inability to "kill the hope" of Twente in their UEFA Women’s Champions League opening 1-1 draw.

The Blues dominated possession and had as many as 20 shots on the Dutch side’s goal, but it was Twente who scored first when Danique van Ginkel struck from distance shortly past the hour mark.

Chelsea did hit back within 10 minutes through Sandy Baltimore’s penalty but were unable to turn the tie completely around and had to settle for a point to begin the new league phase format.

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Domestically, Chelsea were perfect last season, going unbeaten in the Women’s Super League and winning both the Women’s League Cup and Women’s FA Cup in a formidable treble.

The Champions League has always evaded them and last year ended abruptly at the semi-final stage with an 8-2 aggregate defeat to Barcelona.

Barcelona will travel to Stamford Bridge in November in a daunting tie for The Blues and with only four teams advancing straight to the quarter-final stage, every point matters.

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Bompastor, who won the Champions League as a player and coach with OL Lyonnes, was left frustrated with just a point in the Netherlands.

"[It was] not the result we were expecting, a bad result for us, we wanted to start the campaign strongly," she said.

"We couldn’t tonight, I think if we analyse the game, we created lots of situations, a lot of opportunities.

"We couldn’t score more than one, so that is what happens when you don’t kill the opposition's hope, you just keep them in the game and they were strong enough to score one and after that it was a more difficult game for us.

"I think for most of the game we were in control, especially out of possession, we were high and being aggressive.

"We didn’t concede a lot but in one or two situations, they came into our box and from a shot from distance they were able to score.

"When you go into these games you need to make sure you are the first team to score, because as much as you keep them in the game, after it becomes more difficult."

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Right back Ellie Carpenter, who followed Bompastor from Lyon to Chelsea the season after the manager joined, was also disappointed with the result but praised Twente for their organisation.

"Credit to Twente, no game is easy in this Champions League," Carpenter said. "They were very organised defensively, they gave everything.

"That is what this new format of the Champions League is, every game is hard, and they really nullified us going forward and defended really well in a block."

The Blues return to WSL action against Tottenham on Sunday but Carpenter admits they already have one eye on their next Champions League clash, at home to Paris FC next Wednesday.

"We shift focus to the weekend for the league," she added.

"But also we have in the back of our mind the Champions League next week against Paris FC and hopefully [we can] get back on top of things in this new format."

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