Emma Hayes: Champions League win over Real Madrid was 'boring', says Chelsea boss

Chelsea celebrateGetty Images

Chelsea were knocked out in the semi-finals last season to eventual champions Barcelona

By Emma Sanders
BBC Sport at Stamford Bridge

Emma Hayes said Chelsea's win against Real Madrid was a "boring" game despite them clinching top spot in the group and progressing to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League.

Her side scored twice in eight minutes, either side of a Real Madrid equaliser to win 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are three points ahead of BK Hacken in the group and progress with a game to spare.

"We expect to go through so I should start with that," said Hayes.

"That's our expectation and the bare minimum. I think we should expect to go through as group winners. For me, that's already a sign of progress for any team in Europe like us, that we should expect to go through.

"I didn't think it was a scintillating performance - I thought it was a boring game. But not every game is swashbuckling or dynamic. I thought it was quite flat."

Chelsea came into the game on the back of a 3-1 win over Manchester United on Sunday thanks to a hat-trick from Lauren James.

England forward James came off the bench at half-time against Real Madrid with Hayes saying she had "not fully recovered" from that victory in the Women's Super League (WSL) - one of the reasons for Chelsea's "flat" display.

"We had an amazing performance against Manchester United at the weekend," added Hayes.

"Our league is really tough. I think it showed in some of the flat play for us. We controlled the game without maybe doing enough in the final third.

"That's why I made the change at half-time to bring Lauren in which I thought helped. We got the deserved penalty, conceded a sloppy goal but it was a really good reaction to go 2-1.

"Then [we] managed the game somewhat to the end in an - what would you call it - efficient performance. But it was boring, I'm being honest."

While it was by no means an exhilarating performance, the result means Hayes has an opportunity to "experiment" in their final group game against Paris FC on 30 January with qualification sealed.

"When you're managing a squad of players it's tricky," said Hayes.

"I didn't want to change much [from the weekend] because you want to build the rhythm. Now the priority has to be experimenting and giving opportunities.

"It's making sure we get Millie Bright back, Nathalie Bjorn registered and Catarina Macario ready. Maybe there's a new player coming in at some point, I don't know! I won't speculate on that of course. But we need to get ourselves ready.

"If we want to progress we need to get better, but I thought it was a really measured performance from us."

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