Does Bompastor hold the key to break Barcelona-Lyon duopoly in Europe?

It was the one hurdle Emma Hayes could not overcome – knock out Barcelona.

In three of the four seasons before this one, Chelsea’s Champions League dream died at the hands of the Catalan club. There was the final humbling in 2021, and two semi-final heartbreaks in 2023 and 2024.

But is 2025 the year they finally break the hoodoo? Is now the time we realise why Sonia Bompastor was brought to Chelsea?

The French coach has the experience of downing Barcelona on the biggest stage. Her Lyon side overcame the Catalan challenge in the Champions League final of 2022, albeit losing another final to the same opposition last season.

So how do you beat Barcelona? “I’m not going to reveal all the secrets because I think it’s important to keep some for myself and for my players!” Bompastor tells Sky Sports.

There are signs that this Chelsea under this manager hold the key to not just beating Barcelona, but breaking a bigger blockade in terms of the Champions League. Barcelona and Lyon, Bompastor’s former club, have won every edition of the tournament since 2016.

Should Bompastor beat Barcelona with Chelsea, it will then be Lyon or Arsenal in the final. It feels the French coach has the keys to unlocking this dual dominance.

The reason why Chelsea and Bompastor hold the power is not just because they are the WSL’s dominant side – but the manner in which they go about their business.

Take the Champions League quarter-final win over Manchester City. Yes, the Blues were 2-0 down from the first leg, but even against an attack involving Vivianne Miedema, Kerolin and Jess Park, there was an aura that Chelsea were always going to come back. They did, via a superb 3-0 second-leg win, with City demolished by half-time.

Very few teams have the aura to compete with Chelsea. Yet Barcelona are one of them – their air of superiority has been too much for the Blues in recent years.

Bompastor is a firm believer in 70 to 80 per cent of the on-pitch challenges being in the brain so tacking this aura is step one of her plan to write Chelsea into history.

“It’s just like we talked about in the last round. The belief you need to have going into these big challenges is really important,” says the Chelsea head coach.

“It’s about the determination you need to show, the trust you need to show to your players for them to feel confident going into these big challenges. I think mental skills are really important in these big-game performances.

“Every element in the performance – technical aspects, tactical aspects, physical aspects and mental aspects – are important. But sometimes the mental aspects are the most important.

“I think from the game against Manchester City, you could see our determination. The ones against Barcelona, we’ll have to be brave.”

The formbook tends to go out the window when it comes to these games – but context is important for a side going for a quadruple this season.

Chelsea come into the Barcelona clash in unconvincing form, by their high standards. Before the international break, there was a blip in drawing at home to West Ham, missing the chance to set a new club record for the most consecutive home wins.

Then last weekend, they needed a stoppage-time Aggie Beever-Jones winner to overcome managerless Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-finals.

It’s not exactly a Chelsea on top form, but Bompastor believes the level of Women’s Super League teams is a help, not a hindrance, to their continental chances.

“I think having this competitive league helps a lot,” says Bompastor. “Because for any team who is able to compete in the league, it will bring some confidence going into these big games in the Champions League.”

But there are negative sides to it as well – especially when compared to Barcelona and Lyon’s respective contexts.

Take last season’s Champions League semi-finals as an example. Barcelona came into the last-four ties with Chelsea with the league all but wrapped up. The Champions League could be prioritised – whereas Hayes’ Chelsea were chasing down then-league leaders Man City at the same time.

It was the same with Bompastor’s Lyon last season, who had already secured top spot a full month before their Champions League semi-finals with PSG came around. It is the same this year as they prepare to take on Arsenal.

“I think it’s a challenge to be able to perform in every competition when you are an English side because every single weekend is a difficult game to play,” says Bompastor.

“In terms of schedule, the English league just needs to help the clubs to be in the best place possible to perform against the best clubs.

“Maybe we can all work together and try to think what is the best schedule for the English teams coming into March, April and May – to make sure the squads are in a better place to perform against the best teams in Europe. That’s the main thing to make sure for me.

“When you talk about Lyon and Barcelona, as you could see in their league, they are really dominant. I think coming into this moment in the season, they have some freshness because their games in the league are less competitive than our games.”

But this year, the context seems different – at least on Chelsea’s side of the draw.

Unlike last year, Barcelona do not have the league wrapped up. They host Sevilla just days before the semi-final first leg, with the Catalan club trying to fend off Real Madrid, who are sat four points behind them.

So Barcelona have a sideways distraction alongside Chelsea, who boast one of the best squads in Europe.

“Being able to compete in every competition – with these tough games every week, every three days – you need to have depth in your squad,” says Bompastor. “Because if not, it’s really more difficult.

All roads seem to lead to Chelsea as England’s best chance of a first Champions League winner since the competition format change in 2009.

The only question now is whether they can overtake Barcelona as the team to beat in this tournament.