The clubs head into their Champions League semis hampered by the demands of moving from a summer to winter season
Chelsea’s manager, Emma Hayes, is no stranger to pressure. She led the club to the WSL1 and FA Cup double in 2015 and won the 2017 Spring Series. Yet this season the pressure has mounted in a very different way – and that is not a reference to her pregnancy with twins. Making the switch from a summer to a winter season has taken its toll.
With Chelsea fighting for trophies on three fronts, the business end of the season has become brutally congested. The switch was designed to fit better with the international calendar and help teams to maintain momentum in the Champions League. Yet slotting matches around the clustered calendars of the women’s and men’s games, coupled with a swath of postponements because of the cold winter, has wreaked havoc on the two teams still battling in Europe: Chelsea and Manchester City.
Related: Fran Kirby sends Chelsea into Women’s FA Cup final against Arsenal
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