Chelsea’s attack is key in the Champions League. Will the handbrake be released?

Key Highlights

• Instead, Chelsea have recovered to finish third in the inaugural league phase and qualify automatically for the quarter-finals, scoring 20 goals in six games and remaining unbeaten.
• Only eight-time winners OL Lyonnes and three-time champions Barcelona have also avoided defeat. Chelsea’s grip on the Women’s Super League (WSL) title is loosening, with Manchester City six points clear at the top — but a blip in their domestic dominance would almost certainly be forgiven by the fans if they secured the one trophy missing from their cabinet. The Champions League’s changed format has provided valuable clues about their credentials.
• The benefit of the league phase is that Chelsea have had the opportunity to learn their lessons early.
• In the past, the gap between Europe’s elite sides and the rest has often meant a relatively straightforward group phase. Last season, Chelsea won all six of their games against Twente, Celtic, and Real Madrid.
• By the equivalent point this season, they have already faced Barcelona — who have knocked them out in the semi-finals three years in a row — and two-time winners Wolfsburg, who have reached at least the semi-final in three of the past six seasons. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementChelsea’s problem in Europe in recent years has not been the quality of their squad, but their ability to outmuscle or outsmart fellow heavyweights in the knockout stages.