‘They’ll be there in spirit’ – Chelsea will feel the fans’ support in Germany says Eriksson | OneFootball

Chelsea captain Magda Eriksson says that the team will feel the fans’ support at the AOK Stadion tomorrow night even though the UK-based Blues must remain at home.

Emma Hayes’ side have travelled to Germany to take on Wolfsburg in their decisive UEFA Women’s Champions League group match. Chelsea need a positive result to make sure of qualification but they must do it without their fans present with the City of Wolfsburg not permitting those based in England to attend the match.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Eriksson said that Chelsea will still feel the backing of the fans even though they have remained at home.

“It is obviously a shame that they couldn’t come but that’s the way that it is,” Eriksson said. “They are going to be backing us from home, we feel their support anyway and we know that they will be there in spirit, if they can’t be there physically.

“We will 100% go into the game knowing that we have the support from home and that they will be watching in-front of the TV and they will be cheering for us. It is really sad but as the situation stands, it is what it is.”

Chelsea suffered a 2-0 UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final defeat at the AOK Stadion in 2018 but Eriksson said that no comparisons can be made with that game and the latest meeting.

She said “I think it is going to be a completely different game, both the Wolfsburg squad is different and our squad is different and that was a semi-final and this is the group stage.

“There are a lot of different things regarding the game, playing at the same stadium is the one thing that’s the remaining factor.”

The UEFA Women’s Champions League group fixture between VfL Wolfsburg and Chelsea kicks-off at 8pm on Thursday evening. Chelsea fans from the UK are not permitted to attend the match, however, the game can be streamed live on DAZN.