The Chelsea manager, Emma Hayes, has told her players they cannot win their Women’s Champions League quarter-final in the first leg against Lyon at the Groupama Stadium on Wednesday, but they can “absolutely lose it”.
Hayes’s team face the eight-time winners and defending champions who have not been in perfect form this season, having endured a heavy 5-1 defeat at home against Arsenal during the group stages. But key players who were injured earlier in the campaign, such as the Australia defender Ellie Carpenter, are back in Lyon’s squad and it has led to a flawless run of games. Lyon have not dropped any points in any competition since they drew 0-0 with Juventus in the Champions League group stage in December.
