Football News

A year after Emma Hayes had taken over at Chelsea, she sat in the stand at Stamford Bridge alongside then chairman Bruce Buck as they watched the 2013 Champions League final between Lyon and Wolfsburg.

‘That will be us one day,’ said Hayes. ‘So give me time.’

Those were the days when Chelsea played their home games at Wheatsheaf Park in Staines, where Hayes once had to help clear the water off the pitch.

On Saturday evening she will be in the Stamford Bridge dugout for the last time, aiming to take Chelsea to only a second European final at the expense of reigning champions Barcelona.

‘There’s a full circle moment within that,’ Hayes tells Mail Sport, reflecting on that conversation with Buck nine years ago.

‘As Denise (Reddy, her assistant manager) says, this isn’t our first rodeo. We have to focus on the processes that have put us in the best position possible. We are here to compete.’

Barcelona beat Hayes’ Chelsea 4-0 in the 2021 final and knocked them out in the semi-finals last season. But the Catalans come to London bruised after Chelsea inflicted a first home defeat on them in five years in the first leg.

Hayes will depart for the US national team at the end of the season and Saturday will be her final game at Stamford Bridge.

Her first, in 2016, was also in this competition. A crowd of just under 4,000 watched as Chelsea were beaten 3-0 by Wolfsburg. It is likely today will be sold out.

‘It shows you how long it takes on and off the pitch to close that gap,’ says Hayes. ‘There was a gulf between us and Wolfsburg on the pitch. Off the pitch, 4,000 felt a good number.

‘Maybe it’s taken us a little bit too long to get to a sell-out, but there’s a process and it’s taken us some learnings.

‘On the pitch, you have to be there

Emma Hayes