Six straight league titles bought Chelsea six straight seasons of skipping this. Third place last term did not.
Finishing behind Manchester City and Arsenal in the WSL cost Sonia Bompastor’s side their direct entry to the league phase, and their 2026/27 season now begins where it has not begun since 2020: in a two-legged qualifier, on a Wednesday in August, at somebody else’s ground.
Not Stamford Bridge, and not Kingsmeadow either
Chelsea moved house twice this summer. Every WSL home match will be played at Stamford Bridge. Domestic cups and, for now, this European qualifier go to the Cherry Red Records Stadium on Plough Lane — AFC Wimbledon’s ground, capacity around nine thousand — after nine years at Kingsmeadow.
What is at stake
The winners take one of the eighteen places in the Champions League league phase. The losers drop into the second qualifying round of the Women’s Europa Cup.
The opponents, who arrive in form
Real Sociedad have not lost since 24 July.
They finished third in Liga F last season — six points behind Real Madrid, twenty-one behind Barcelona — after finishing seventh the year before. This is only their second appearance in the competition: the first, in 2022/23, ended 4-1 on aggregate against Bayern Munich.
Arturo Ruiz lost Andreia Jacinto to Real Madrid, along with Claire Lavogez, Emma Ramírez, Lucía Rodríguez, Lucía Pardo and Mirari Uria. He signed Ainoa Campo from Espanyol, Ainhoa Marín from Deportivo, Laura Camino from Eibar, Esther Laborde from Madrid CFF, Chile’s Sonya Keefe from Granada and the American Ava Seelenfreund.
Pre-season began with a 0-2 defeat to Torreense and has not gone wrong since: 1-1 with Logroño United, 1-1 with OL Lyonnes, 1-1 with Alavés, 2-0 against Osasuna, 1-1 with Eibar and through on penalties, then a 3-1 win over Athletic Club in the Euskal Herria Kopa final five days ago.
The draw with Lyon is the one that carries weight. The French side lost the Champions League final in May.
Since the Torreense defeat, Real Sociedad have not conceded more than one goal in any of their six matches.
Carlota Chacón scored in the final in Irun. She is seventeen, volleyed in an equaliser before half-time and is named in the UEFA squad list for this tie. She has captained Spain’s Under-17s; at the World Cup in Morocco she scored twice against Colombia on her debut and was named player of the match.
Two of them leave between the legs
Aiara Agirrezabala and Alazne Estensoro have been called up by Spain for the Under-20 World Cup in Poland. The squad reports on Thursday 27 August, the day after the first leg.
Both can play at Plough Lane. Neither is expected in San Sebastián on 2 September. For a tie Real Sociedad need to settle at home, losing a first-choice defender and a goalkeeper in between matters more than any tactical detail.
What Chelsea have lost, and what they have kept
Bompastor lost five players in five months: Sam Kerr, captain Millie Bright — who retired after 314 appearances — Guro Reiten, Catarina Macario and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd. Their joint-record scorer, their captain, another forward and two wingers.
In came Katie McCabe on a free from Arsenal, Japan’s Manaka Matsukubo, Melvine Malard, Giulia Dragoni from Barcelona and full-back Nelly Las.
What remains is still formidable: Hannah Hampton in goal, Lucy Bronze, Naomi Girma, Kadeisha Buchanan and Ellie Carpenter behind, Keira Walsh and Erin Cuthbert in midfield, Lauren James and Mayra Ramírez ahead of them.
Pre-season was spent a long way from London: 7-0 against Auckland and 3-0 against an A-Leagues All Stars side, on tour in New Zealand and Australia. Two matches, and nothing else.
The advantage that does not show up in the team sheets
This is the first competitive match of the season for both. The WSL does not start until 5 September; Liga F starts on 29 August.
The difference is what happens in between. On Saturday the 29th, three days after London, Real Sociedad open Liga F at home against Logroño United. Chelsea play nothing at all.
So Real Sociedad reach the second leg with a competitive match in their legs and the fatigue that comes with it, and Chelsea arrive fresh and undercooked. Neither is obviously better.
Where it could turn
Numbers in the box. Chelsea attack with the width stretched and arrive in numbers: full-backs pushing on, wingers cutting inside, a striker holding the line. The question is not one defender against one forward — it is how many blue shirts appear at once.
Lauren James between the lines. The specific tactical problem: she receives with her back to goal, eliminates a defender and creates from nothing. One player cannot defend her.
The aggregate, not the match. This is a two-legged tie, and Real Sociedad already know they will be without two players for the return. The less they have to overturn in San Sebastián, the better.
The connections Chelsea have not built yet. Five significant departures and two friendlies against modest opposition. Malard, Matsukubo, McCabe, Dragoni and Las have yet to play a competitive match for this team, and Bompastor has to introduce them in a knockout tie rather than on a league weekend.
Match details
The first leg kicks off at 18:45 BST on Wednesday 26 August at the Cherry Red Records Stadium, Plough Lane. The second leg is on Wednesday 2 September at 19:00 CEST — 18:00 BST — in San Sebastián.
Italy’s Silvia Gasperotti referees, with Giulia Tempestilli and Veronica Martinelli as assistants and Nicole Puntel as fourth official. A Croatian team led by Ivana Martinčić takes the return.
Real Sociedad are streaming the match on their own YouTube channel from kick-off, and Chelsea are showing it free on their website and app. The tie is not part of the centralised Disney+ package, which begins with the league phase. Where to watch the whole round.
