It has been a while since we last saw the women in Blue take on the pitch. With an extremely short preseason schedule with matches in New Zealand and Australia earlier this month, Chelsea Women and manager Sonia Bompastor had two weeks to prepare for their official debut: the first leg of a Women’s Champions League qualifier versus Real Sociedad Femenino.
This is not just a season debut. It’s also our first match in a new home with Kingsmeadow now dedicated to the club’s youth teams. Here’s hoping
we can break ground in a good way today.
Date / Time: Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 18.45 BST; 1:45pm EDT
Venue: Plough Lane, Wimbledon, UK
Referee: Silvia Gasperotti (ITA)
Forecast: Some sun, some wind
On TV: none (UK); none (USA); elsewhere
Streaming: Free at Chelsea FC and the club’s official app
Chelsea team news: Plenty happened over the summer at Chelsea Women, with the Blues having to make up exits of club legends Sam Kerr and Guro Reiten (both to Gotham FC), as well as Niamh Charles (to Manchester City) and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (to Lyon).
Unfortunately the rumours around Bunny Shaw didn’t materialise as Manchester City “broke” their salary structure to accommodate the striker’s now-record wages with her contract renewal. With firing power in dire need we brought forwards Melvine Malard and Manaka Matsukubo from Manchester United and North Carolina Courage, respectively.
To sort out midfield issues we got Giulia Dragoni, a Barcelona central midfielder who spent the last two seasons on loan at AS Roma in Italy. And we also joined forces with former nuisance Katie McCabe after the expiration of her Arsenal contract.
This wouldn’t be a match preview without a list of already injured players. Mayra Ramírez, who featured in preseason after almost an entire season without touching the pitch, is out of contention. So is Erin Cuthbert and the aforementioned Matsukubo, with the trio not expected to feature in the second leg of the affair – which will take place on September 2nd – either.
Real Sociedad team news: Thanks to a third-place finish in Liga F last season, Real Sociedad got a spot in the Women’s Champions League qualifying rounds this term. It was a remarkable campaign that included a 1-0 victory at home against continental champions Barcelona.
Their preseason ended on a relatively good note with a 1-1 draw to Eibar in regular time turning into a 4-1 win on penalties. Before that they held fellow Liga F outfit Logroño and Champions League runners-up Lyon to 1-1 draws, and lost 2-0 to Portuguese team Torreense.
Previously: This is the first time we meet Real Sociedad in history. However we can’t complain much whenever we meet teams with “Real” in their names.
