SONIA BOMPASTOR expressed her delight as Chelsea secured Champions League qualification with victory over Real Sociedad on Wednesday evening.

The Blues booked their place in the league phase with a 1-0 win over Sociedad in the second leg of their third-round qualifier in Spain, where Keira Walsh scored the only goal of the game in the second half.

Victory completed a 6-2 aggregate triumph to reach the draw for the league phase, which takes place Friday, and Bompastor was pleased to see her side secure qualification.

“We kept a clean sheet, which is always important, and when you do that, you always have a bigger chance to win games,” she said in quotes reported on the Chelsea website.

“I’m glad we could rotate the team with the starting eleven, but also the players who came in.

“I think today we gave some really good opportunities to the young players to come and experience a Champions League game, so when you have the opportunity to do that, I think it’s always something really positive.

“I’m happy and really excited now to be in the Champions League this season. The goal was for us to qualify, which is what we have done.”

Bompastor also praised the quality of Sociedad as Chelsea’s attention turns to the Women’s Super League action, where they face Aston Villa tomorrow.

“People will probably think when you are Chelsea, it’s easy to do, but we played against a really strong team in Real Sociedad,” Bompastor added.

“Over the two legs, they showed some really good quality, and I think these two games are a really good preparation for us to come into the season in the league.”