Chelsea take a 1-0 advantage into Thursday's Champions League quarter-final second leg against eight-time winners Lyon; no British side has won the competition since Arsenal in 2007 with Chelsea coming the closest when they were thrashed 4-0 by Barcelona in 2021
Thursday 30 March 2023 18:36, UK
Emma Hayes says the 2021 Champions League final defeat to Barcelona fuels her as competition holders Lyon stand in Chelsea's way of reaching the semi-finals this year.
Chelsea were defeated 4-0 by Barcelona two years ago in Gothenburg, and Hayes admitted her side were naive as the chance to become the first British side to win the competition since 2007 slipped through their fingers.
The Blues now have a shot at redemption as they go into Thursday's quarter-final second leg against Lyon at Stamford Bridge with a 1-0 advantage.
Head coach Hayes has laid down the gauntlet for her players to deliver against the eight-time winners.
"Sure, I want to be in the biggest games so there is no doubt [the 2021 defeat] is a motivation for me," said Hayes.
"But my motivation isn't led by one single thing to be the very best at something, you can't just talk about it, we have to do it every day on the training pitch, in every game and my challenge for the team is 'demonstrate it, demonstrate everything you've worked so hard on to put this club in this position'."
Despite British teams' lack of recent success in the Champions League, Hayes believes her WSL champions have more than enough to take on Lyon at Stamford Bridge.
"We want these situations, we want to be in this game, and we want to be in a position where we can impose ourselves and our game in our stadium the way we want to," Hayes said.
"We have a lot of experience too and I think it's important for the team as a whole to demonstrate that, particularly in the right moments. We have to have the right mentality to begin with and we have to be brave.
"You have to appreciate that their (Lyon's) record speaks for itself but it's important for us as a team to impose ourselves, be aggressive in the right moments, be positive in everything we do on and off the ball and we will seek the opportunity that's in front of us. I know the entire dressing room is very much looking forward to it."
Hayes added: "We know what to expect, it's the champions of Europe over a long period of time for a very good reason so it's not like we're playing a team that is not used to being in that position, we know the threat but we've worked hard over a long period of time."
Chelsea's Magdalena Eriksson featured in Sunday's 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the Women's Super League as the the Blues were beaten in the competition for the first time since September.
With Thursday night marking their seventh game in March, the defender emphasised the importance of not dwelling on defeat with the short turnaround between fixtures.
She said: "We are very experienced in having games back to back so we know we can't dwell too long on defeat but it's something we also can't ignore so we've looked at it, we've talked about it, we've dealt with it and learned from it and now we've moved on and now we're ready.
"The response has been great. We've looked inwards, we've parked it and moved on, so now we are really excited about the [Lyon] game. I think playing in the Champions League is what us players dream about. You're going to see a really hungry Chelsea."
