Catarina Macario is not in the Chelsea squad to face FC Twente in the UEFA Women’s Champions League on Wednesday.
And head coach Sonia Bompastor explained why the forward did not travel.
“We decided for her not to travel with the team,” Bompastor told a press conference. “She will be fine for the weekend’s game against Tottenham, and all except for her, everyone who played on Friday is available.
“She (Macario) has a bit of inflammation around the Achilles. This is something we have been managing for weeks now, and we just felt maybe the best plan was for her to stay and not to have to travel with the team.”
Macario signed for the club in 2023, during her rehabilitation from an ACL injury.
Lionesses Lucy Bronze, Lauren James and Niamh Charles plus the US’s Naomi Girma are also unavailable as they continue their rehabilitation from injury.
Bompastor: We are focused on ourselves
Chelsea played Twente in last season’s Champions League campaign as well, beating them 3-1 away and 6-1 at Stamford Bridge.
But Bompastor isn’t necessarily expecting the same sort of scoreline when they face off on Wednesday evening.
“Twente, I think from last season, look different,” she explained. “They have been working together for one more year now, so probably they have more connections, and also as a team more experienced together, so I’m sure they learned a lot from last season’s campaign and coming into this new campaign, so they will be ready to perform at home – a nice stadium.
“We focus on ourselves also because we know we have top quality in the squad and we always make sure we find the right balance between coming with confidence into this game but also knowing every opposition team when they face Chelsea, they will be super-motivated so we need to be ready for the challenge.”
Bompastor: Everyone knows we are missing the Champions League
She added: “We want to perform in every competition. Everyone knows the Champions League is the only trophy missing at the club.
“When you are competitive and you have these ambitions, you want to perform at the highest level, so for us as a club, the Champions League is the highest competition you can play as a club, and I think we all want to take that opportunity to perform and to show our best level in this competition.”
