Millie Bright interview: 'It's nice to be underdogs, but we must find another level to get to the final'
Six days have now passed since perhaps Chelsea's greatest victory under Emma Hayes, but this week has been no time for revelling in that famous win in Barcelona.
Fail to reach the Champions League final by backing up that result in tomorrow's second leg at Stamford Bridge and it will be nothing more than a distant memory.
Progress, though, and Hayes will get one last shot at lifting the trophy which has eluded her during a 12-year tenure that has garnered 14 major titles.
"Winning the Champions League is every player's dream but, knowing Emma is departing at the end, this year more than ever it's that extra drive," captain Millie Bright tells Standard Sport.
On a personal level, Bright says it was like "day and night" going from captaining England in last summer's World Cup final to missing most of this season with a knee injury. But she could make her long-awaited return tomorrow.
Barcelona boast some of the world's best players, including Bright's England team-mates Keira Walsh and Lucy Bronze and Spanish World Cup winners Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas.
When we drew Barca, everyone immediately wrote us off. It's nice playing as underdogs
Millie Bright
They have 23 wins and one draw from 24 league games this season, average 70.9 per cent possession domestically and knocked Chelsea out 2-1 on aggregate at this stage en route to winning the Champions League last year.
Two years prior, Barca thrashed Chelsea 4-0 in the Blues' maiden Champions League final. Hayes's side were 1-0 down after 32 seconds and had conceded all four goals by the 36th minute.
The challenge facing Chelsea tomorrow is not lost on Bright. "There's no denying they're one of the best teams — they have been for several years — but every team came be beaten. Many people will disagree with this, but we deserved to win over there.
"We'll feel the real Barcelona team now; they'll come out the blocks. But we'll ride out the storms and then put the pressure on. When we drew Barca, everyone immediately wrote us off. It's nice playing as underdogs."
Chelsea have undergone a season of change, recruiting heavily before injures hit. "At times we've had less players than we'd ideally like," says Bright. "But it's highlighted players who are ready to step up.
"Finding out mid-season that your manager of 12 years is leaving [has been] one of our huge hurdles to overcome. Some of the performances might not have been the way people want football to be played, but we get three points on the board or win trophies. That's one of our biggest qualities: we find a way, no matter what."
Within the space of a fortnight, the Blues lost the Conti Cup final against Arsenal for the second successive year and crashed out of the FA Cup to Manchester United. Now only the Champions League and the WSL, where they are neck and neck with leaders Manchester City, remain.
Bright says: "Those two losses were a harsh reality of how quickly things can change — from a possible quadruple to only competing for two trophies. However, we are grateful to still be in the one big one, which we haven't succeeded in [yet]."
Bright refers, of course, to the Champions League, where Chelsea topped a group featuring Real Madrid, Paris FC and BK Hacken before beating Ajax in the last eight. A final against Lyon or PSG awaits either Barca or the Blues.
"We're on such an incredible journey in the Champions League," Bright says. "[Previously] we've always felt that little bit far away. It would definitely show growth in us to get through.
"Beating one of the best teams once is hard enough, let alone twice. We know they have another level to find — but so do we."
More than 35,000 tickets have been sold for tomorrow, and Bright says: "We need an electric atmosphere. We're in a great position.
"Everyone would 100 per cent still back Barca to [win] the game. But while we have had some very unsuccessful journeys in the Champions League, this year just feels different."
