Chelsea Dagger

Match day three of the Women’s Champions League sees a good old fashioned Battle of Britain as Scottish champions Celtic host English champions Chelsea. Such an occasion needs a fitting venue, and so unsurprisingly this is the one that Celtic have decided to host at Celtic Park. Kick off is at 8pm and it’s also live on TNT Sports 1.

Celtic are currently bottom of the group with two defeats in their opening two games and have yet to score. The 2-0 defeat at home to FC Twente started the campaign with goals just before half time and just before full time…

And they then lost 4-0 away to Real Madrid. Caroline Weir with the early opener, the other three goals coming in the last 20 minutes of the game.

Chelsea are currently top of the table with two wins from two. They beat Real Madrid 3-2 at home in their opening fixture…

And then won 3-1 away to Twente.

This is, of course, no surprise. Chelsea are a top seed in this competition as the champions of England, were one of the four teams to qualify for the group stage automatically, and were beaten semi finalists last season by eventual winners Barcelona. That was despite winning the first leg 1-0 at home – the only game Barcelona lost in the competition last season.

Barcelona did turn it around in the second leg, winning 2-0.

Chelsea definitely have their eyes on the prize this season with ambitions to win the tournament that so far has eluded them. From a Scottish perspective, they do of course have Erin Cuthbert as a regular in the first team. They also have Sam Kerr, but that’s the Aussie one, not ours!

Looking back over Chelsea’s Champions League history you’d be forgiven for thinking it gets a bit repetitive! Last season’s semi final defeat was deja vu for Chelsea as they also lost to eventual winners Barcelona 2-1 on aggregate in the semi final the previous season!

The season before that, 2021/22, they lost out on the head to head in their group stage when they finished on 11 points along side Wolfsburg and Juventus. That’s just unlucky.

2020/21 was the closest they came to the trophy, making it all the way to the final only to lose out 4-0 to… yep, Barcelona again, in the final in Gothenburg.

They also lost in the semi finals of 2017/18 and 2018/19, losing to Wolfsburg 5-1 on aggregate and Lyon 3-2 on aggregate respectively.

But interestingly, Chelsea’s very first venture into Europe saw them paired with Glasgow City in their opening tie in the round of 32 in 2015/16. Unfortunately for City, Chelsea won both legs of the tie, 1-0 at home thanks to a goal from Fran Kirby…

And then 3-0 at New Broomfield. Eni Aluko, Fran Kirby and Gilly Flaherty getting the goals. A who’s who of commentary pundits these days!

Chelsea are currently second in the Women’s Super League, a point behind leaders Manchester City. Although it is worth noting that Chelsea have a 100% record after six games, and City have played a game more. On Sunday they won 3-0 away to Liverpool. They host leaders Manchester City at 5.30pm on Saturday which is live on Sky Sports if you’re interested.

Celtic are currently fourth in SWPL1, two points behind leaders Glasgow City. On Sunday they beat City 4-3 on penalties in the SWPL Cup quarter final after a goalless draw. They host second place Rangers at noon on Sunday, a game that will also be on Sky Sports.

I’m just going with the unique angle penalty shootout video as the rest of the game wasn’t great to be honest!

Good luck to Celtic tonight! We’ll do this all again next week when the teams meet again at Stamford Bridge on match day four.