Key events
Kick-off: Chelsea 0-0 Real Madrid
Here we go! The players take a knee before the referee blows the whistle! Chelsea in their classic all blue and Real Madrid in orange.
There has been a late change for Chelsea in the starting XI, which I assume was the reason for the delay. Musovic comes in to replace Hampton who was initially named to start.
It is 8pm and the game should have been underway by now but Uefa have confirmed that their was a short delay for an unnamed reason … The teams are finally making their way out of the tunnel now and here comes the Champions League anthem.
The teams are in the tunnel at a very rainy Stamford Bridge and a mini-light show has begun to ramp up the atmosphere.
A few of the stats before kick-off:
Chelsea are unbeaten in their previous nine group matches at home (W6 D3) and have conceded just two goals in their last eight home group games.
Real Madrid have lost their last five group matches. They have not made is past the group stage since 2021-22.
Leupolz returns to Stamford Bridge having left for Madrid in the summer after 83 appearances for the Blues.
Rytting Kaneryd keeps her record of appearing on all 19 matchdays since the group stage was introduced in 2021-22 (her six in that first season coming for Häcken).
Real Madrid are on a run of 10 straight away wins and are unbeaten on the road in 12 matches since a 2-1 Copa de la Reina quarter-final loss at Atlético in February.
Chelsea and Real Madrid are the only two clubs to have been in the same group in three seasons of this competition.
The other two teams in Group B – Celtic and Twente – face off tonight. Celtic’s Elena Sadiku, 30, will break the record set by Julian Nagelsmann as the youngest coach in the male or female version of the Champions League. She chats to Ewan Murray about the feat, the prospect of almost having to amputate her leg and success.
Our first mail of the night! Kirk writes from Pennsylvania:
No Cuthbert, no Charles. Baltimore as left-back. An interesting lineup for Chelsea.
Indeed! Bompastor has made some big calls. Baltimore, Bronze and Kaptein all make their Europe debuts for Chelsea. Alberto Toril has made six changes to his side that faced Valencia on Friday and I wonder if Bompastor rightly predicted that, and adjusted accordingly.
Latest from the earlier kick-offs:
Lyon 2-0 Galatasaray
Roma 1-0 VfL Wolfsburg
Follow along to all of tonight’s matches with our live scoreboard.
Chelsea are one of the favourites to win their group – and the whole competition – but it is not going to be easy. The group stages can always offer twists and surprises but their are a select few who are almost shoo-ins for the knockouts.
Who are they, you may ask? Tom Garry has you covered with his group-by-group breakdown and predictions.
According to Chelsea’s Lucy Bronze, the club have everything at their disposal to finally win the Champions League. And she should know, she has already won five.
This club has more things at their disposal than a lot of the teams I’ve played for. I always get asked: ‘How does it compare to Lyon and Barcelona?’ I loved my time at both those clubs, and the players and talent at those clubs was unbelievable, but they didn’t necessarily have all those resources in place to back the team, whereas Chelsea have all the resources and the talent there.
Read more from Suzanne Wrack’s preview below.
Team news
Chelsea XI (4-3-3): Hampton; Bronze, Bright, Björn, Baltimore; Kaptein, Nüsken; James, Rytting Kaneryd, Ramírez, Reiten.
Subs: Musovic, Lawrence, Périsset, Mpomé, Bartel, Jean François, Hamano, Beever-Jones.
Real Madrid XI (4-3-3): Misa; García, Lakrar, Mendez, Carmona; Abelleira, Angeldahl, Leupolz; Del Castillo, Weir, Redondo.
Subs: Chavas, Téllez, Hernández, Gálvez, Silva, Caicedo, Bruun, Møller, Camacho, Navarro, Feller.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to our very first live blog of this season’s Women’s Champions League: Chelsea v Real Madrid!
Chelsea have been so utterly dominant domestically this past decade but it is this elusive trophy that has escaped their grasp time and time and time and time and time again.
But one thing has changed from all of those losses: Sonia Bompastor. The French manager joined the Blues this summer after Emma Hayes sailed the high seas to take the United States job.
Bompastor has won the WCL twice as a player and – more importantly – once as a manager. Does she bring the experience needed to get Chelsea over the line?
That is yet to be seen, of course. First, Chelsea need to get through the groups and their first test is Real Madrid. The Spanish side are not as dominant as their league rivals Barcelona and their record is poor in Europe, but they do have a few stars that can hurt even the best of sides.
Let’s not waste any more time and get straight into the team news. Kick-off is set for 8pm BST at Stamford Bridge.
And, as always, if you have thoughts, questions, concerns, predictions or any thing else you want to share with me and the world, feel free to send me an email!
