The South West Londoners kick-off their European campaign against a side that competed strongly in Liga F Moeve last season.
When speaking to the media in the pre-match press conference, Chelsea boss Bompastor admitted that Real Sociedad will provide a strong test but believes that her own side are well-prepared.
“It will be a strong test,” Bompastor said. “Real Sociedad finished third in the Liga F. They are a Spanish team, so they have a really strong philosophy in possession, but they have a lot of quality out of possession as well.
“We know everything about them now and we have prepared for the game well. The game will also be about us and I’m confident with the quality we have shown during pre-season.”
With no major international tournaments this summer, the Chelsea squad have had the oppoortunity to enjoy an extended break. Bompastor says that everyone is now refreshed and ready to go.
She said “Everyone has had a really good break. In the last three or four seasons, that probably wasn’t the case for the players, so that changes the energy that they bring into the new season a lot. For the staff, we are also really excited to be back on the pitch, it was a long break.
“We are hungry to start the new season. We know the quality that we have in the squad and we know what we want to achieve. It feels great to be a Chelsea player or member of staff because we have a lot of quality and there are a lot of things that we want to achieve together.”
With UEFA Women’s Champions League qualification on the line, Bompastor knows the importance of the two-legged tie against Real Socieded. While progression tops the agenda, The Blues boss also believes that the games offer great preparation for the domestic campaign.
She said “These two games are really important for us because we need to win in order to qualify for the group stage in the Champions League. It’s also good preparation [for the WSL] because in these games, we will have to be at our best in all of the elements; tactical, technical, mental and physical aspects.
“They will be two really good games in preparation for the league campaign. We are taking them one-by-one but we pretty much need to be at our best in these two important games.”
The first leg of Chelsea’s UEFA Women’s Champions League third qualifying round tie against Real Sociedad takes place at The Cherry Red Records Stadium in Wimbledon at 6.45pm this evening.
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