Sonia Bompastor exclusive: 'I'm glad Arsenal were able to beat Barcelona'

The Chelsea manager on searching for European success with The Blues and matching an invincible domestic campaign

Sonia Bompastor won a domestic treble with Chelsea last season. Credit: Getty Images

How do you go one better than invincible? That is the challenge facing Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor this season.

The French coach replaced the much-loved Emma Hayes last summer and delivered a phenomenal first season in charge, winning three trophies and not losing a single game in domestic competition.

She led Chelsea to their sixth consecutive WSL title, winning the league by a record 12 points, the sort of dominance her predecessor Hayes had never managed.

The huge gap between Chelsea and second-place Arsenal led to questions about the competitiveness of the WSL, with the title race essentially done and dusted months before the end of the season.

Chelsea may not have lost a league game, but for Bompastor, the competition across the WSL was visible in how Chelsea navigated the campaign with a target on their back, and that hasn’t gone away.

“The pressure is still here,” she says. “Everyone wants to beat Chelsea, but that's a motivation for us. As players and as coaches, we have competitors at this club, and this is also the position we want to have. It’s nice to be in that position.

“This league is the most competitive league in Europe, probably one of the most competitive leagues in the world”.