Chelsea clinched the Women’s Super League (WSL) title for a sixth straight season on Wednesday with a 1-0 win against Manchester United.
Chelsea had been planning to lift the title against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, but their title celebrations were brought forward after Arsenal were dealt a 5-2 defeat to Aston Villa, meaning just a draw on Wednesday would be enough.
The Blues won the WSL in their last five campaigns under Emma Hayes and her successor, Sonia Bompastor, has only added to Chelsea’s domination.
“It feels great [to win the league]. I told to some players and staff after the game that it feels a little bit unreal because we were probably not expecting to achieve that tonight,” Bompastor said in her post-match news conference. “I was not expecting Arsenal to drop points against Aston Villa.”
The WSL has gone down to the final day in the last three seasons, yet Bompastor has earned her first English domestic title with games to spare. Wins in their remaining two games would see the side go unbeaten in the league and eclipse the WSL points record (58) they set themselves in 2022-23.
“I heard some noise about the fact it’s too easy for Chelsea. That’s not easy,” Bompastor said. “When you look at our results, to be able to beat [Manchester] City two times in the league, two times [against] Arsenal and two times [against Manchester] United, I don’t know what people think. It’s unbelievable.”
Bompastor admitted that after Aston Villa’s second goal in their win over Arsenal, she stopped watching the game. And, although she found out the result from members of staff, she chose not to tell her players in an attempt to keep their focus on the job at hand.
“Before the game I didn’t mention anything to my players,” she said. “Some of them were probably aware Arsenal lost, but I didn’t want to mention anything because for me, coming here, I wanted to win the game and not to tell them that information because probably they will get more comfortable with the situation.”
Bompastor, who joined Chelsea from French giants Lyon in the summer, secured Chelsea’s first piece of silverware in March with a 2-1 win over Manchester City in the League Cup final before delivering the west London club’s eighth WSL trophy in her debut campaign in England.
“I never let my players breathe. I’m always pushing for them to do more,” Bompastor said. “The last few weeks, it was difficult for them because I was the one who was always pushing for more and they were like, ‘Sonia, we achieved already something.’ But that’s never enough.
“That’s the mentality you need to have when you want to be one of the best teams.”
Chelsea have the chance to complete their second domestic treble on May 18 when they face United in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
They narrowly missed out on winning a historic quadruple after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Spanish giants Barcelona in the semifinal last weekend.
“To be able to come and play an away game three days after the Champions League semifinal loss, I think you have to be really professional but also mentally really strong to be able to bounce back,” Bompastor added.
“I think because some people maybe think because you are Chelsea, it’s so easy to do that, but that’s not. I already said mentally that’s something really important for the teams and the great teams to be able to stay strong even when you have low in the season.”
Meanwhile, United’s loss closes the gap for fourth place Manchester City as the pair are still grappling for a place in the top three, alongside Arsenal who are one points ahead.