Manchester City are riding high after clinching the Barclays Women’s Super League title, but head coach Andrée Jeglertz insists there’s no time to rest on their laurels. The Cityzens were crowned champions midweek after title rivals Arsenal stumbled against Brighton & Hove Albion, but the focus has quickly shifted to their next challenge: an Adobe Women’s FA Cup semi-final showdown at Chelsea.
“I’ve never been to Wembley, so that’d definitely be a new thing,” Jeglertz said in the pre-match press conference. “We wanted to win the league and that was one of our key aims going into the season, but we are also competing in other parts. A good team is winning one title, a great team is winning more titles. For us, it’s about coming into this showing that we’ve won the title of the league but that we are still able to focus a couple of days later, really putting a good effort in and challenging for the FA Cup. It’ll be very important for us to do that.”
The squad celebrated their league triumph on Wednesday night, but Jeglertz believes the quick turnaround to the semi-final is actually a blessing. “I think this is the best way because you can enjoy it, but we are football players and we are here to compete. We like to have different challenges, so I definitely think the players are fine—it’s not a problem to get them bouncing back to what we need for Sunday.”
Manchester City’s last meeting with Chelsea ended in a dominant 5-1 victory back in February, but Jeglertz warns that the Blues have evolved since then. “Chelsea are a great team and they’re totally different to when we played them in February. They have found more stability in how they are performing week-to-week. They have great players in all positions. I’m really looking forward to this challenge. The last time we played at their home, we lost 2-1, and now, we would definitely like to put in a better performance. It will be a great challenge for us.”
The semi-final kicks off at 3:30pm on Sunday, and with a spot at Wembley on the line, Manchester City are hungry to prove they’re not just champions—they’re contenders for greatness.