Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor faces growing scrutiny after her side were held to a 1-1 draw with Twente in their opening Women’s Champions League group-stage match — a result that former England forward Lianne Sanderson described as “disjointed” and “below expectations.”
The Blues, who had thrashed the Dutch champions 9-0 on aggregate in last season’s group stage, entered the tie as heavy favourites and were expected to deliver a statement performance, particularly after Barcelona’s emphatic 7-1 victory over Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Instead, Chelsea laboured to a point. Danique van Ginkel gave Twente a first-half lead before Sandy Baltimore equalised from the penalty spot in the 71st minute. Despite controlling possession and creating multiple chances, Chelsea’s lack of cohesion and sharpness left many questioning Bompastor’s approach.
Sanderson, speaking on Disney+, criticised Bompastor’s decision to make seven changes to the starting XI from the weekend’s WSL draw with Manchester United, suggesting the manager underestimated her opponents.
“Questions will be asked of Sonia because this is the competition Chelsea fans want to win,” Sanderson said. “She made too many changes. It looked disjointed — the chemistry wasn’t there. Too many players had minimal minutes. They took Twente lightly, and Twente deserved their point.”
Only Ellie Carpenter, Millie Bright, Sandy Baltimore, and Aggie Beever-Jones retained their places from the previous match, leading to what Sanderson described as a lack of rhythm and understanding across the pitch.
“Ultimately, Bompastor has to make tough decisions in all competitions,” Sanderson added. “She’s still finding her best XI, but tonight it was the wrong selection.”
Statistically, Chelsea were the better side, recording 20 shots to Twente’s nine and 64% possession, yet they struggled to make their superiority count.
Guro Reiten, Alyssa Thompson, Sjoeke Nüsken, and Baltimore all forced saves from goalkeeper Diede Lemey, while Maika Hamano missed a gilt-edged chance in the first half after good work from Oriane Jean-François. Thompson also had a goal disallowed for offside.
Bompastor acknowledged her side’s inefficiency in front of goal, admitting the performance fell short of European standards.
“It’s not a good result at all,” she told Disney+. “We wanted to start the campaign with three points. We created a lot but only scored once — that’s not enough in the Champions League. We had 18 crosses in the first half, but were first on the ball only six times. That’s simply not good enough.”
Former England midfielder Fara Williams took a more balanced view, praising Chelsea’s resilience after falling behind.
“The positive is they came away with a point,” Williams said. “It wasn’t the win they wanted, but getting something on the board could prove crucial later. They showed they can stay in games and are not easy to beat.”
Bompastor, meanwhile, urged her players to regroup quickly ahead of Sunday’s Women’s Super League clash with Tottenham, stressing the need to “mentally turn around” and learn from the Twente result.
However, Sanderson warned that patience will be limited, given Chelsea’s ambition and heavy investment in pursuit of a long-awaited European crown.
“It’s a non-negotiable that Chelsea win the Champions League this year,” she said. “With the resources they have and the players at their disposal, anything less will be seen as a failure.”
Chelsea’s draw leaves them under early pressure in a competition they are desperate to conquer. For Bompastor, the message from both fans and pundits is clear — time for transition is over; only a European title will suffice.
