Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze says their Women’s Champions League victory over Real Madrid is a good start but “playing like that, we won’t win the competition”.
The England international has won five European titles with former clubs Lyon and Barcelona.
Chelsea won 3-2 at Stamford Bridge in their opening group match on Tuesday but gave Real opportunities to come back into the game.
“We gave up goals easily. We were the better team on the night, we possessed the ball in spells really well and our goals were really well taken – but we should have put them to bed early on when we were 3-1 up in the second half,” added Bronze.
“We were playing quite well so we could have scored another and not let them back into the game.
“In the Champions League, when you let a team back in, they can punish you.”
Bronze was part of the Barcelona squad who suffered defeat by Chelsea in the first leg of their Women’s Champions League semi-final last season but the Spanish club recovered to reach the final and win back-to-back titles.
“Both playing for and against Chelsea, I know there is the talent and the competitiveness to win the Champions League [in the squad],” the 32-year-old added
“This team has beaten the best teams in Europe in Barcelona and Lyon, and I think this year we are going to have improved on last year.
“We are poised to push on, we need to improve a lot on tonight but we are in a good position and I think by the end of the season we will be in a really good place.”
‘We have to play with a lot of intensity’
It was Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor’s first game in charge of the club in the Women’s Champions League so she was pleased to get off to a winning start.
The Frenchwoman has won the competition three times, twice as a player and once as a manager with former club Lyon.
But she said on Monday that the postponement of Chelsea’s Women’s Super League match against Manchester United – due to be played on Sunday – impacted their preparation.
They had not played a competitive fixture in 10 days when they lined up at Stamford Bridge to face Real and were hit by illness in the squad this week.
“We have to play with a lot of intensity. I don’t want to find excuses but maybe because we didn’t play for 10 days, it’s something that can help you understand why tonight we were a little bit down,” said Bompastor.
“We scored the two goals but the players were not working as hard as I wanted them to work on the pitch.
“When we had the ball we were just walking to get the ball which is not enough. If you want to possess the ball, you have to run a lot.”
Bompastor also said she wanted her side to “manage the game more” after sloppiness let Real back into the game.
“When I say manage the game, it’s not about slowing it down, but being smarter,” added Bompastor.
“When you begin the game with two goals, it’s good to keep that result. We conceded two goals where we maybe could have done better.
“We were a bit nervous about Madrid getting stronger. I would like us to manage the game better.”
