Browsing: Chelsea

Chelsea Green may not have shared the ring with John Cena, but that doesnâ€t mean the Cenation Leader canâ€t impart his wisdom to the WWE SmackDown star when it comes to building her brand outside the squared circle.

In a new interview with Deanna Barnert of Womanâ€s World, Chelsea Green revealed that sheâ€s been exploring opportunities outside WWE and shared how John Cena has been helping her carve a niche beyond the company.

“Iâ€ve been auditioning for role after role, and trying to dabble in the hosting space as well,†she said. “Iâ€m trying to start at the bottom and not cut corners. I want to do it the right way and gain respect within film and TV—not get there because I had it handed to me on a WWE silver platter.

“My husband and I go on double dates with John and Shay, every couple months, and the knowledge that comes out of him is incredible. He totally has my back and if I just continue to touch base with him, Iâ€ll continue to get those little bits of information and advice that are so crucial when youâ€re on this journey of trying to figure out what you want to do next.â€

John Cena reacts to Matt Cardonaâ€s WWE in-ring return

John Cena and Matt Cardona go way back. Cardona, then known as Zack Ryder, was part of a major storyline in the early 2010s that also involved Cena, Kane, and Eve Torres.

Cardona made his first WWE NXT appearance in over five years this past Tuesday, taking on Josh Briggs in singles action. Despite putting up a strong fight, he was unable to defeat the former NXT UK Tag Team Champion.

Cena acknowledged Cardonaâ€s NXT return by dedicating an Instagram post to him, which prompted a response from the former “Belt Collector.†Fans will have to wait and see whether Matt Cardonaâ€s WWE return was a one-off.

Also read: Killer Kross Says One Of John Cenaâ€s Final Matches Should Be Against This Former WWE Superstar

Source link

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez withdrew from the Argentina squad during the latest international break with an apparent knee injury.

The combative midfielder has played in every Premier League game so far for the Blues, and was an integral part of the group that won the Club World Cup in the summer.

Fernandez, who signed for Chelsea from Benfica for £106.8m in 2023, has enjoyed a fruitful start to the 25/26 season – scoring three times and registering two assists so far.

You may like

Will Enzo Fernandez be available for Chelsea this weekend?

Enzo Fernandez has played a lot of football for Chelsea in 2025 (Image credit: Getty Images)

Chelsea had gone three league games without a win before surprising reigning champions Liverpool at Stamford Bridge last time out.

A win against Nottingham Forest this weekend could see them climb back into the top four, and manager Enzo Maresca will be hoping his star midfielder will be available to help lead the charge at The City Ground.

Enzo Fernandez withdrew from the Argentina squad (Image credit: Getty Images)

Despite having to leave the Argentina camp, Fernandez is expected to be fit to face Forest on Sunday.

It is thought that the midfielder “had always planned to miss the friendly match with Puerto Rico this week and had planned to see family during his leave”, according to BBC’s Chelsea reporter Nizaar Kinsella.

The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.

Considering the amount of football he has played over the last year, including during the summer off-season at the Club World Cup, it seems the decision was made with a view to managing his load.

It’s Forest up next for Chelsea on Saturday lunchtime, a side that haven’t won since the opening day of the season.

Source link

Oct 15, 2025, 05:05 PM ET

Chelsea and Juventus are set to battle it out to sign Al Hilal midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic on a free transfer, while Real Madrid are interested in signing Chelsea midfielder Moisés Caicedo, who has been offered a new contract. Join us for the latest transfer news and rumors from around the globe.

Transfers homepage | Done deals | Men’s grades | Women’s grades

TOP STORIES

– Sources: Utd may extend Casemiro but salary key
– De Jong signs new Barcelona contract until 2029
РSources: Bar̤a, Madrid tracking Mexican teen Mora

Could either Chelsea or Juventus end up signing Sergej Milinkovic-Savic? (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)

TRENDING RUMORS

– A race between Chelsea and Juventus could take place for Al Hilal midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, according to Corriere dello Sport. The 30-year-old is set to enter the final six months of his contract in January and, having not yet signed an extension, multiple clubs across Europe (including Galatasaray and Fenerbahce) are tracking him with a view to getting him to sign a pre-contract agreement. The Serbia international has made four appearances in the Saudi Pro League side so far this season.

– Chelsea plan to offer midfielder Moisés Caicedo a new contract to ward off interest from Real Madrid, according to TEAMtalk. Los Blancos are reported to be one of the sides keeping tabs on the 23-year-old but, following several impressive performances so far this season, it looks as though the Blues are set to reward him with improved terms to stay put at Stamford Bridge. And Caicedo’s long-term deal in West London isn’t set to expire until 2031 already.

Editor’s Picks

2 Related

– Internazionale have joined the race for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guéhi, reports Tuttosport. Inter are reportedly monitoring the 25-year-old’s situation at Selhurst Park, with belief that he could be a strong replacement for Yann Bisseck, who could leave San Siro next summer. Guéhi remains on the radar of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but Liverpool are leading the race for him after a £35 million move broke down on the final day of the summer transfer window.

– Brighton will dismiss offers to sign midfielder Carlos Baleba in January amid interest from the Premier League. TalkSPORT reports that the Seagulls have no plans to part ways with the 21-year-old during the middle of the season, with hopes of dissuading interested sides by asking for a £120 million fee. Meanwhile, Manchester United are set to prioritize a move for Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton, 21, according to iNews, having placed him as their No. 1 priority ahead of Baleba amid their search for a midfielder. Wharton has also recently been linked with Real Madrid.

– A move for Dinamo Zagreb winger Cardoso Varela is being considered by Barcelona and Chelsea, reports Mundo Deportivo. The Blaugranaare closely monitoring the 16-year-old, with club sporting director Deco having already met with his representatives. While the Blues are also interested in Varela, whether the LaLiga club make a move for him is expected to hinge on if they decide to sign on-loan Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford permanently.

EXPERT TAKE

ESPN’s Madrid correspondent Alex Kirkland looks at the likelihood of Real Madrid landing Moisés Caicedo.

Real Madrid’s summer rebuild — signing three defenders in Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dean Huijsen and Alvaro Carreras, plus a wide forward in Franco Mastantuono — didn’t include a central midfielder, which for many fans and pundits, should have been top of the list.

So far this season, Xabi Alonso has tended to pick Aurelien Tchouameni, Fede Valverde and Arda Guler as his midfield three, with Jude Bellingham coming back into the picture after his recovery from shoulder surgery. The team have mostly played well, but in the two biggest games of Alonso’s tenure so far — the Club World Cup semifinal against PSG, and the derby against Atletico — they’ve come up short, and it’s hard to escape the feeling that, despite the qualities of Tchouameni, Valverde et al, they’re still missing a really dominant, tempo-setting midfielder.

Is Caicedo that player? A contract until 2031 is clearly an issue. Madrid only pay big transfer fees for the most elite prospects, like Bellingham, and that contract duration means a free transfer would be a distant prospect. Here in Madrid, there’s been no reporting yet that Caicedo is a serious target.

OTHER RUMORS

play

1:32

Dawson: Man United should give Amorim until the end of the season

Rob Dawson and Mark Ogden discuss Ruben Amorim’s future at Man United.

– Clubs in Saudi Arabia are looking to sign Real Madrid center back Antonio Rudigeras he enters the final year of his deal. (Fabrizio Romano)

– Barcelona are keeping tabs on Borussia Dortmund forward Serhou Guirassy and winger Karim Adeyemi. (Bild)

– There is an undisclosed release clause in the contract of Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo, who has been linked with both Manchester United and Liverpool. (TalkSPORT)

All of ESPN. All in one place.

Watch your favorite events in the newly enhanced ESPN App. Learn more about what plan is right for you. Sign Up Now

– Bayern Munich winger Adin Licina is being watched by Juventus and Borussia Dortmund. (Tuttosport)

– Clubs in the Premier League could be interested in signing Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, 37, if he becomes available as a free transfer. (Football Insider)

– Monaco will wait until the end of the season before deciding whether to activate the permanent option clause in the loan deal of Barcelona winger Ansu Fati. (Sport)

– Juventus could need Fenerbahce defender Milan Skriniar to accept a lower salary for a move to become possible, with the 30-year-old earning close to €10m-per-season. (Gazzetta dello Sport)

– Eintracht Frankfurt are open to parting ways with striker Elye Wahi, while they also hold interest in Newcastle forward Will Osula. (Florian Plettenberg)

– Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka wants to stay at the club, but they could still look to move him on. (Fabrizio Romano)

– Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaeris on the shortlist of Rangers as they continue their search for a head coach. (TEAMtalk)

– Premier League clubs Chelsea and Brighton are looking at Lazio defender Mario Gila. (Football Insider)

– Barcelona are planning to begin talks over a new contract with defender Eric Garcia. (Nicolo Schira)

– AS Roma and Juventus are monitoring the contract situation of Bologna midfielder Remo Freuler. (Nicolo Schira)

Source link

Chelsea’s dominant victory over Paris FC was lit up by the newest member of their attack, Alyssa Thompson, who traversed the Stamford Bridge pitch with agile runs and eventually got the rewards her efforts deserved.

Thompson may be just 20 years old, but her arrival at Chelsea was accompanied by lofty expectations arising from the club record price tag. Now, in her seventh appearance, she has finally got off the mark.

She darted down the wings and led her side’s counter-attacks, showing expert positioning to put herself in the right place to be able to set up Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s goal, and tapped home an excellent Keira Walsh delivery to get her first goal for the club.

It was an impressive display, but, says manager Sonia Bompastor, the best of her is still to come.

“A young player, a lot of talent, but I think we haven’t seen yet the best of her, but hopefully we will see that soon,” said Bompastor.

“She is coming from abroad, she speaks the language, which helps, but again, it’s a new environment, a new club, she needs to learn to connect with new players on the pitch, new team-mates, so hopefully, even sooner, we will see an even better version.”

Thompson’s first goal is one which will put her at “ease”, says Brighton forward Fran Kirby, who previously spent nine years at Chelsea.

Former Scotland captain Rachel Corsie added that now Thompson has scored, she imagines the “floodgates will open”.

“She’s been a real bright spark,” Kirby said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “I think against Tottenham she looked really sharp, it was probably that final product.

“Today, getting that assist and goal will make her feel a little bit more at ease going into the next game. A little bit of pressure off.”

Source link

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

23 min: Bright wins a free-kick, and itâ€s a central position … Chelsea opt against the shot, with Baltimore dinking it into the area. Up goes the offside flag.

Share

22 min: Weâ€re approaching the end of the first quarter and, for all of Chelseaâ€s dominance on the ball, theyâ€ve not exactly sliced open this Paris backline.

Share

20 min: Thompson makes a run in behind and plays a first-time cutback from the left … but she canâ€t pick out Beever-Jones, with Greboval in the way for Paris.

Share

19 min: Chelsea continue to move it around, with Thompson, out on the left, constantly looking to cut in to the middle.

Share

17 min: Chelsea have a corner, to be delivered by Cuthbert … the ball in is eventually worked back to Cuthbert on the left, who finds Beever-Jones in the middle: her first touch is a fine one, but her shot on the turn is met by an excellent block.

Share

15 min: Rytting Kaneryd crosses from the right … but Deja Davis is back to clear for Paris.

Share

14 min: Hampton very nearly ends up handling outside her area after coming to collect, with Mateo launching an ambitious appeal.

Share

12 min: Paris are easily crowded out when they venture up the pitch.

Share

11 min:Beever-Jones, makes an excellent run behind into the area, Walsh slides in the perfect pass … but the former miscues once again.

Share

10 min: Charles Antaki writes in:

Even as an Arsenal fan, itâ€s hard not to respect and admire Millie Brightâ€s contribution to the England cause over the years. Fair play to her if sheâ€s decided that she needs to reserve her energies for the WSL (though the other part of being an Arsenal fan is not to be very happy about that). Itâ€s not that England canâ€t win things without her (checks notes: Euro 25) but that when she plays she has a rock- solid certainty at the back which would make any team better. Vale, Millie.

Share

9 min: Nüsken breaks free on the right, into the area, cutting back for Beever-Jones … but the forward miscues, barely getting any power behind her effort.

Share

8 min: Cuthbert slides a sneaky ball into the area … but thereâ€s no blue shirt on the end of it.

Share

6 min: Sandy Baltimore sends in a couple of crosses before Erin Cuthbert tries her luck from outside the area … her low drive is easily collected by MylèneChavas.

Share

5 min:Chelsea, as expected, are the ones wheeling the ball around.

Share

4 min:Rytting Kaneryd twists and turns out on the right before dinking a decent cross in … itâ€s headed out before Nüsken shoots wide from range.

Share

3 min: Walsh loses the ball in the middle as Clara Mateo drives down the right for Paris … Bright blocks the cross and also nabs a goalkick.

Share

1 min: Alyssa Thompson, electric out on the right alongside Ellie Carpenter last week against Twente, is operating on the left this time round.

Share

Peeeeeeeep!

Chelsea are all blue, Paris don the whites. The hosts kick off, with Aggie Beever-Jones launching first.

Share

Ellen White, on punditry duty, predicts a 4-0 Chelsea victory. Sonia Bompastor wants her side to replicate their display against Spurs. Letâ€s see what theyâ€ve got in the locker: the players emerge from the tunnel.

Share

On the subject of international retirements: Jess Fishlockâ€s illustrious Wales career will end this month.

Share

Millie Bright remains at the heart of Chelseaâ€s defence but the England chapter is over.

Millie Bright captains Chelsea this evening at Stamford Bridge. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/ReutersShare

Updated at 15.11 EDT

Having rotated heavily for last weekâ€s match against Twente, Sonia Bompastor has opted for less tinkering this time round: Hannah Hampton is back in net, with just two changes to the side that beat Tottenham 1-0 in the league. Ellie Carpenter is missing from the squad, while Niamh Charles drops to the bench. In come Sjoeke Nüsken and Sandy Baltimore.

Share

The teams

Chelsea: Hampton, Nüsken, Björn, Bright, Baltimore, Kaptein, Walsh, Cuthbert, Rytting Kaneryd, Beever-Jones, Thompson

Subs: Peng, Buurman, Macário, Jean-François, Reiten, Kerr, Charles, Bronze, Hamano, Potter, Sarwie

Paris FC:Chavas, Ould Hocine, Davis, Greboval, Bogaert, Picard, Korosec, Corboz, Garbino, Mateo, Le Moguédec

Subs: Marques, Azzaro, Mendonça, Scott, Nâ€Dongala, Jedlinska, Haheim, Sissoko, Liaigre, Yerro

Share

Updated at 14.19 EDT

Preamble

Hello, hello, hello and welcome to another evening of Champions League action: Paris are in London.

Chelsea, still waiting to lift this trophy, got their campaign off to an awkward start last week, relying on a Sandy Baltimore penalty to take a point at Twente. While the WSL champions – who remain unbeaten this season – dominated on the ball and whipped in cross after cross, their final touch was off. Maybe a kickabout at Stamford Bridge, under lights, is the required tonic.

Paris FC, who came through qualifying to reach the league stage, gave up a 2-0 lead against OH Leuven to draw last week, and their brief relationship with Chelsea is not pretty: the English side won 4-0 and 4-1 when the two sides met in the 2023-24 group stage. Then again, Twente didnâ€t have history on their side either. Kick-offâ€s at 8pm BST.

Share

Source link

Two of Sunderland’s summer signings could miss out on the Black Cats’ trip to Stamford Bridge in less than a fortnight, while one is certain to be absent for the match.

Chelsea welcome Sunderland to SW6 next weekend hoping to avoid a potential Premier League banana skin.

The newly-promoted north-east club have made a fine start to the new campaign, notching three wins and two draws from their opening seven matches – the same record as Chelsea.

You may like

Sunderland receive triple injury blow before Chelsea clash

Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris (Image credit: Getty Images)

Enzo Maresca’s Blues, however, boast a stronger goal difference and as a result sit higher in the table but that could all change when Regis Le Bris’ men visit the capital on Saturday, October 25.

Chelsea do have injury worries of their own with the likes of Levi Colwill, Liam Delap and Cole Palmer all ruled out for upcoming fixtures, including Sunderland’s visit, although they do have a much deeper squad than the majority of their Premier League rivals.

Cole Palmer features in FourFourTwo’s latest issue: 384 but won’t be appearing at Stamford Bridge until after the next international break (Image credit: Future)

The Black Cats spent heavily during the summer window, unburdened by legacy PSR issues and a modest wage bill, which allowed them to recruit a number of top players from across Europe.

Omar Alderete and Noah Sadiki were recruited from Getafe and Union Saint-Gilloise, respectively, while £30 million man Habib Diarra joined from Strasbourg.

The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.

The latter is out until later this year after undergoing surgery, while Sadiki missed DR Congo’s World Cup qualifier on Tuesday with an ankle sprain.

Alderete, meanwhile, was brought off during the latter stages of Paraguay’s friendly defeat by South Korea and will require further assessment on what was described locally as ‘muscle discomfort’.

Omar Alderete whilst on international duty with Paraguay (Image credit: DANIEL DUARTE/AFP via Getty Images)

All three have played an important part for Sunderland during the early part of the 2025/26 campaign.

Prolonged absences for each, as is the case with Diarra, would represent a significant blow to the Black Cats’ bid to maintain their place in the top flight for another season.

Source link

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

A strange half, dominated by Chelsea on the ball … yet it was Twente who had the clearest chance when Vliek burst through on the right and should have tested Peng in the Chelsea goal, instead of trying to square it. The English champions have whipped in cross after cross, with Baltimore and Carpenter lively down the wings – but theyâ€ve also struggled to properly test out Lemey.

Share

HALF-TIME: Twente 0-0 Chelsea

Buurman wins a free-kick from distance and Chelsea play it short, trying to cut through on the right … but the move breaks down with Carpenter. Thereâ€s no added time as we have a breather.

Share

43 min: Nüsken tries to dink the ball from the left-hand side … but the ball hits the ref. Thompson shoots from the right, her shot spilled by Lemey but cleared by Knol.

Share

41 min:Carpenter sends in a delicious ball from the right … but thereâ€s no one taking a punt with a run into the six-yard box.

Share

40 min: Itâ€s another Baltimore cross … but Tuin clears for Twente.

Share

39 min: Chelsea work it very nicely from one wing to another, the two centre-backs involved …. but Baltimoreâ€s cross is into the keeperâ€s hands.

Share

37 min: A Chelsea corner sees the ball run to the edge of the area … Baltimore hits it beautifully first time, but itâ€s straight at the keeper.

Share

36 min: The ball bounces nicely for Nüsken at the edge of the area … but she opts against the shot. Thompson then crosses from the right and Reiten glances her header wide. Again, it just wonâ€t go right when the ball lands in the middle.

Share

35 min: Reiten bursts down the left … but the crosses simply arenâ€t coming together for Chelsea.

Share

34 min: Roord holds off Jean-François and wins a free-kick before Twente try and work it down the right. Buurman is in the way, though.

Share

32 min: Van Ginkel is brought down on the edge of the Twente area by Hamano – Chelsea have just lost a bit of their rhythm in the last 10 minutes.

Share

31 min: Carpenter and Thompson play their one-twos on the right but the latter overhits a pass to send it out for a goalkick.

Share

29 min:Twente have an opening with a free-kick from the left, whipped in by Roord … but Carpenter gets in the way before a shot from the edge of the area is blasted high.

Share

28 min: Beever-Jones launches from the edge of the area but the drive finds the safe mitts of Lemey.

Aggie Beever-Jones goes close for Chelsea. Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/ReutersShare

Updated at 13.20 EDT

27 min: Beever-Jones makes a neat run into the area to pick up a dinked ball but her reverse pass into the middle canâ€t find a blue shirt.

Share

26 min: Chelsea recycle the ball at the back as Twente hold a decent defensive shape.

Share

24 min: Roord tries to split Chelsea with a ball to Oude Elberink but the danger is comfortably cut out.

Share

22 min: Thompson and Carpenter remain dominant down the right before Buurman is dispossessed and Twente break. Roord continues to search for the ball between the lines.

Share

19 min: Somehow, we still donâ€t have a goal. Thompson jinks away on the right again for Chelsea, turning Tuin inside out, but her cross is uncoverted. Chelsea are just missing a clinical edge at the moment.

Share

17 min: Jean-François eases her way into the Twente area and cuts back from the left … Hamano is waiting, surely there to open the scoring from close to the penalty spot, but she blasts over the bar.

Share

Updated at 13.05 EDT

15 min: Carpenter does some excellent hassling on the right to set up another drive down the wing and cross into the middle – the Chelsea full-back is at the centre of everything at the moment.

Share

13 min: Thompson plays in the overlapping Carpenter on the right, but her dinked in cross beats the run of Reiten in the middle.

Share

11 min: Chelsea play it short and little comes of it before Twente cut through Chelsea with a brilliant sequence of passes – Vliek is set through on goal and should really take it on herself … but she tries to square it and the danger is cut out by Carpenter. That was a real chance.

Share

Updated at 12.59 EDT

10 min: Another corner for Chelsea as Reiten causes more problems on the left …

Guro Reiten evades Leonie Vliek of FC Twente. Photograph: Chris Lee/Chelsea FC/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 13.07 EDT

8 min: Jean-François drives in the corner and Beever-Jones attacks, her header clipping the outside of the post.

Share

7 min: Baltimore and Reiten combine nicely down the left again to secure a corner …

Share

6 min: Millie Bright intercepts at the back before Baltimore nutmegs on the left, though the attack breaks down.

Share

4 min: Baltimore feeds Reiten down the left channel but the cross into the box finds Lemey, the Twente keeper.

Share

3 min: Carpenter and Thompson play a neat one-two out on the right but the formerâ€s cross is cleared – already, Chelsea are threatening down that wing.

Share

2 min: Twente win a free-kick in their own half after Nüsken fouls, but Chelsea are quick to win the ball back.

Share

1 min:Alyssa Thompson thunders down the right but her cross is out of bounds.

Share

Updated at 12.47 EDT

Peeeeeeep!

Chelsea get things going in blue, moving from right to left.

Share

Right then, after some technical difficulties with Disney, Iâ€ve got my stream sorted. The players are out and weâ€re about to get going.

Share

The Womenâ€s Champions League has a new format this season, shifting to an 18-team league phase, similar to the model adopted by the menâ€s version. After Twente, Chelsea are down to face Paris FC, St. Pölten, Barcelona (yikes), Roma and Wolfsburg.

Share

Jill Roord, once of Manchester City, is in the Twente XI, having re-joined her first club in the summer. The move was about rediscovering some joy:

It had nothing to do with [Manchester] City. My time with City was really good. I have been away for eight years playing abroad and it becomes tough being alone for that many years. In the past few years I lost my fun and my happiness in football a little bit because of being away, travelling a lot and not being able to be with family and friends. With busy summers every year I never really got a break. I needed to move back home, enjoy life and enjoy football again.

Hereâ€s the full interview with Tom Garry in June.

Share

Chelsea look very different to the side that drew against Manchester United on Friday: Ellie Carpenter, Millie Bright, Sandy Baltimore and Aggie Beever-Jones are the only starters from that fixture still in the XI. Catarina Macario is out with an achilles injury, though Bompastor has said sheâ€ll be fine for the weekend fixture against Tottenham.

Share

The teams

Twente: Lemey, Vliek, Carleer, Knol, Tuin, Groenewegen, Roord, Van Ginkel, Elberink, Ravensbergen, Proost

Subs: Bussman, Van der Vegt, Hulst, Diekman, Andradottir, Te Brake, Verdaasdonk, Ivens

Chelsea: Peng, Carpenter, Bright, Buurman, Baltimore, Hamano, Jean-François, Nüsken, Thompson, Beever-Jones, Reiten

Subs: Björn, Hampton, Cuthbert, Kaptein, Kaneryd, Kerr, Potter, Sarwie, Walsh

Share

Preamble

Is this the season? WSL champions six years in a row, a domestic treble to celebrate, unbeaten in the league for yonks … but that Champions League remains missing. Barcelona have had Chelseaâ€s number in three consecutive semi-finals (as well as the 2021 final), but a fresh start gets that dream going again.

Sonia Bompastor and her players†opening assignment in this rejigged comp is in the Netherlands, with Twente the hosts. They faced each other last season, when Chelsea won 3-1 at De Grolsch Veste, and a 6-1 win victory at home added to the one-sided nature. Twente have those memories to contend with as Chelsea begin plotting a path to Oslo, the scene of this yearâ€s final. Weâ€ll play at 5.45pm BST.

Share

Source link

Few players in English football are able to boast of winning eight league titles at their current club, but that’s just the situation Millie Bright finds herself in at Chelsea.

The 32-year-old joined the Blues in 2014 and has been front and centre during the club’s current golden age which has seen them dominate the domestic game over the past decade.

Chesterfield-born Bright began her career at Doncaster Belles, but when she was 19, they were demoted from the WSL to make way for Manchester City, a situation that still rankles with her.

You may like

Bright on her journey to Chelsea

Bright joined Chelsea in 2014 (Image credit: Getty Images)

“[‘It was] really tough,” Bright tells FourFourTwo. “We had to play a whole season knowing that we were relegated. The decision was nothing to do with the football on the pitch – City came in and that was that. Chelsea moved in for me just as we got relegated, but I turned them down at first, not because I wasn’t grateful, but because I didn’t feel ready and needed some more playing time at Doncaster.

“I also didn’t want to abandon them just because we’d been relegated. Luckily Chelsea came in again later on, when I’d achieved everything I could with Doncaster and knew it was time. I had to ring my mum and dad to tell them I was moving to London!”

MIllie Bright began her career as a striker (Image credit: Getty Images)

This move to Chelsea also came at a time when Bright was still finding her best position, after she had started as a striker. “Clearly I was rubbish as a striker, so I got chucked back! [Laughs],” she continues. “I was a striker when I went on loan to Leeds at 18 and scored loads of goals there. Then I went back to Doncaster, moved into midfield, and started switching from midfield to centre-back over and over again – and at Chelsea too.

“I think I was 23 when I sat down with Emma Hayes and was like, ‘Right, what is my position? I want to be the world’s best in a position, what is it?’ She said centre-back and I was like, ‘OK, centre-back’. Although I do still go on little wanders up the pitch!”

The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.

Fast forward to 2025 and Chelsea’s latest domestic treble saw Bright win her eighth league title in 11 years at the club.

“I’ll retire there – Chelsea is my club, and I adore everyone there,” she says. “I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved. Starting off in 2014, we hardly had any facilities and now we’ve got a massive gym, an incredible amount of staff, amazing pitches and a great relationship with the men’s side of the club. That’s taken time, and all the hard work that Emma Hayes did. I’ve loved it every single year. There’s not been a moment where I’ve asked myself, ‘Should I leave, should I not?’ I’ve got no reason to as long as I’m being pushed – I’ve turned 32 this year and still feel I can go to another level, I want to keep getting better.”

Bright celebrates a goal for Chelsea (Image credit: Getty Images)

It’s clear that Bright has no plans of hanging up her boots, but she has recently taken up a side hustle, launching a clothing range with artwork inspired by your tattoos and personal motto, ‘Dream big’.

“I’ve got a tattoo of an owl to represent home, as we’ve got a barn owl at my family’s stables in Sheffield,” she explains. “I’ve got a matching ‘1/2’ tattoo with my best friend Rachel Daly, ‘hakuna matata’, which means ‘no worries’, and a tiger that represents strength. ‘Dream big’ is something my mum has said since I was little – before every game, she still messages me that. No dream was ever too big, my family never held me back and said, ‘That’s not realistic’. My motto is, ‘They say I dream too big, I say they think too small’. I’ve lived by that.

Bright has launched her own limited edition sports bra and sportswear range, in partnership with MAAREE. For more information, visitMAAREE.com

Source link

Unleash the carefully metered ticker-tape gun. Crack out the cautiously decanted champagne. This is a game that will perhaps be remembered above all for Enzoâ€s Run.

With 95 minutes on the clock, as Chelseaâ€s 18-year-old substitute Estêvão Willian scored the winning goal even before the shared intake of air around Stamford Bridge had been transformed into a barrelling roar, Enzo Maresca was off, sprinting down his touchline at astonishing speed, and showing classical form, hands carving the air, knees high, like a small, bald track-suited Allan Wells, then leaping with his players into the crowd.

Maresca had been weirdly animated all game, out there in full-figure hugging Galactic Jade club nylons and sculpted quilted coat, bristly, bald, even quite twinkly, like an ageing Jedi on his way to the gym. As Chelsea took the lead in the first half he even tried to conduct the crowd, demanding more noise, more heat, albeit with something oddly accusatory in his gestures.

Eventually Maresca returned from the mosh pit. He was sent off for his touchline run, an act of entirely alien positional insurrection from the most deathly of systems-managers. He disappeared, replaced by a generic baldy-beardy man from his stable of back-ups, and didnâ€t appear again at the end. Perhaps the rumours are true and Maresca just kept running, out of the ground and down the Fulham Road, passing Whitechapel by the time the sprinklers came on.

But then, this was momentous game in many ways. Mainly for Liverpool. Perhaps there will be relief of sorts. Either way the rabbits that have been rustling in the tree line for the past six weeks have finally come gambolling out into the paddock. Liverpool have lost three games in a row, two on successive league weekends. They are not, repeat not, top of the table.

This had to happen some time. It has been over a year now, the morning of 24 September 2024, since the last time last Arne Slotâ€s team werenâ€t at least level on points at the top. And by the end a 2-1 defeat here felt like a comprehensive status report on this team, its obvious strengths and its obvious flaws, the fact it seems every week now to be playing both its opponents and the glitches and snags in its own system.

Arne Slotâ€s Liverpool side have lost their past three games in all competitions. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

Is this a crisis? Playing badly and winning in late season is a thing. Playing badly and winning in early season. Well, then youâ€re just playing badly. But if it is a crisis itâ€s quite an attractive one, a team that is still chugging along in the middle lane even as Slot works furiously under the bonnet. What will bother Slot is the way opposition managers are taking it in turns to pick at those holes, to work him out a little in advance, as Oliver Glasner did last weekend, and as Maresca did here.

Stamford Bridge had been chilly, grey and breezy at kick-off, the kind of day that seems always to be trying to get inside your shirt or up your sleeve. Marescaâ€s initial success came from playing Malo Gusto in midfield, creating a suffocating central block.

Liverpool were squeezed and hurried. Every time Alexis Mac Allister took the ball in deep areas Gusto was all over him, man-marking the fulcrum, choking Liverpool at source.

With 15 minutes gone neither team had created a chance. Then something out of the box happened. Moisés Caicedo found time and space on the ball, empty grass ahead of him. He took two more steps. Still nothing. Virgil van Dijk ran to his left apparently reacting to some swarming sense of danger. Presumably Van Dijk hasnâ€t watched Chelsea much. But it was enough. Caicedo had had time to set himself and shoot right to left into the top corner, a wonderfully pure strike, still rising as it clanged the metal strut that holds the net.

Moisés Caicedo fires Chelsea into a first-half lead. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

After that the system continued to work in the same way. Liverpool had two shots by half-time, none on target. You want to know what really gets to Maresca, what fills his legs with dynamite? Elite stifling. High-end interruption. And Chelsea did it here.

skip past newsletter promotion

Sign up to Football Daily

Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football

Privacy Notice:Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

after newsletter promotion

If that first half showcased Marescaâ€s ability to set these traps where there is no urgency to drive the game forward, it also showed why Liverpool signed Florian Wirtz. Slot had spoken before this game about the need for a different kind of midfielder. Wirtz came on at the break and almost immediately found Mohamed Salah with a lovely spinning touch. Salah fired wide, weirdly, as he did often here, so blunt in his shooting you half expected to look down and notice he was playing in flippers.

Liverpool were better. Wirtz had a good spell. Chelsea went into random player generator mode, blue shirts hobbling off to the recycling plant to be broken down into parts and sent out again as João Philly-Cheese-Steak, promising non-specific defensive utility shield. Cody Gakpo got the equaliser. Chelsea came on strong at the end. Reece James was supreme, in full defensive warrior mode.

And Chelsea deserved to win overall. Liverpool looked muddled, albeit still groaning with talent and trapped energy. It is surely good for the league Liverpool are not top of the table in this state, that it isnâ€t possible to simply restock your attacking silos and march on seamlessly, that the reactions of your opponents are more nuanced.

The question remains. Are they now in crisis? Again, not the worst kind. There is a huge depth of talent to be explored. But there are also creaking parts. Right-back is a problem. Right-back refers pain into the midfield. Wirtz has affected the attacking balance, also the space behind him. This is like a combination boiler where a buildup of flange in your dredge capacitor is causing overheated trex to enter the z-bend via the shuffle valve.

Separately, and dating back to last season, Salah has dropped off a cliff. He was fouled a lot here, bounced up, but also couldnâ€t assert his own energy. He has three goals in 21 games in the league from open play. He isnâ€t the problem. But he also isnâ€t the solution right now.

This is not quite a crisis. But it is an opportunity for Arsenal, for the rest of the field. And for Slot too, to find answers to the tactical misfires, to fix this team on the hoof. Liverpool are a rejig away from looking like a very potent attacking team, if not perhaps a totally solid one. It feels at least, as we had into anther two-week international embalmment, as though the league is really starting in earnest.

Source link

Senior officials at Chelsea have been expressing excitement about Estevao’s arrival since they agreed his signature more than a year before his eventual move to England.

Fittingly, Estevao scored a brilliant goal from a tight angle against Chelsea in a losing cause on his final appearance for Palmeiras this summer.

He left the Sao Paulo-based club with 27 goals and 15 assists in 83 games.

After that match, he was seen mingling with his future team-mates, including England playmaker Palmer, in what appeared to be a moment of respect between peers.

That game was perhaps an English audience’s first glimpse of Estevao, but Brazilian football experts have long tipped him for the top.

He was the first player under 18 to have 20 goal involvements in a single season in Brazil’s Serie A (12 goals and eight assists), breaking a record set by Neymar.

In the Club World Cup, he won ‘superior player of the match’ twice and, perhaps fittingly, impressed against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, having earned the nickname Messinho – ‘Little Messi’ – in Brazil.

It felt like a coup from Chelsea to beat some of Europe’s leading clubs, including Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, to Estevao’s signature.

He chose Chelsea due to his belief in their vision and the promise of a significant role in his first season, with his sights set on playing for Brazil at the 2026 World Cup.

Estevao consulted former Chelsea defender Thiago Silva before choosing Chelsea in 2024.

The Blues had planned to ease him in slowly, but Palmer’s injury and Estevao’s brilliance have led him to feature in every match – except the draw with Brentford which he missed because of illness.

Palmer hopes to return from a recurring groin problem after the international break.

But even in the star attacker’s absence, Estevao appears ready to deliver more big moments for Chelsea.

Source link