Chelsea Women’s manager Emma Hayes has warned Real Madrid will have “nothing to fear” when they face off in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The Blues won twice in Group D and advanced to the quarter-finals of the competition after beating Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge.
It has been a disappointing season for Real, who finished bottom and failed to progress to the quarter-finals, but Hayes warned Las Blancas will be playing for their pride on Wednesday.
“There is nothing more dangerous than playing against a team that has nothing left to play for,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “They are not afraid of anything and they have pride.
Of course they will play for three points, but they will not qualify.” I think if our mindset is to throw them out of the game, that’s a dangerous place for us to be and we shouldn’t do that. “(Winning the group) is very important.
We expect it from us and we are at home. I think everyone expects us to win the game.” Anyway, this is Real Madrid, they have a good team, they have a lot of players from overseas.
They scored against us and drew with us in the second leg, so we know what we have to do and it’s there. Madrid’s only point in the group stage so far was a 2-2 draw with Chelsea in the first leg.
The match was played in controversial circumstances, with Madrid awarding the Blues a penalty for a foul outside the box before the goal was ruled out for offside, and Hayes is expecting “strong refereeing” this time around.
He said: “There was a goal which was legally offside and a penalty kick which was not in the penalty area. “Hopefully the girls can put in a decent performance tomorrow so they don’t make bad official decisions.”
Hayes confirmed there were no new injuries for Chelsea and midfielder Erin Cuthbert took the captain’s armband for the match. Commenting on the decision, Cuthbert said: “I’ve received (the bracelet) a few times and it’s always an honour.
“I don’t think anything changes about me whether I wear a bracelet or not. “I’m still the same person and I’ll continue to act that way,” he said.
