Baltimore penalty spares Chelsea blushes after Twente threaten WCL shock

The Champions League is Chelsea’s white whale. They want it. They want it badly. However, their title credentials took a knock in the Netherlands, a 1-1 draw against Twente far from the ideal start to a tournament they long to dominate.

Despite their dominance in possession it was the home team that took the lead, through captain Danique van Ginkel, before Sandy Baltimore converted from the spot for the equaliser.

Every piece of silverware is valuable, but for the team that has repeatedly won it all domestically, the desire for the final piece of their trophy puzzle is strong. It eluded them during Emma Hayes’ tenure, defeat to Barcelona in the 2020-21 final the closest they came. Three back-to-back semi-final defeats to Barcelona, including losing 8-2 on aggregate to the Catalan giants last season, have stung each and every time.

Sonia Bompastor flexed the muscles of her squad for the trip to Enschede, with only four of the team that started their 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Friday night on the pitch, but it proved costly as they started their Champions League campaign in a new era of the competition – the group stage replaced by a league phase akin to the men’s tournament.

These two teams met in last season’s group stage, with the Blues inflicting a 9-2 aggregate defeat on the Dutch champions. Van Ginkel said they would look a little different one year on. “I hope we’ve matured a bit and can address what we did wrong last year,” she said.

At De Grolsch Veste that maturity showed, Twente didn’t try to match Chelsea’s press or compete one-on-one, they were an efficient unit, frustrating the Blues who threw wave after wave of attacks at the home team.

However, Twente had the best chance of the half. Leonie Vliek had space and time after a neat one-two with Jill Roord, signed from Manchester City in the summer, but instead of going for goal herself she squared for the team’s 2024-25 topscorer Jaimy Ravensbergen. Ellie Carpenter was able to get back and clear.

There was an energy to Chelsea , but a lack of cohesion, the changes taking a toll, particularly in the final third. Maika Hamano should have done better with Oriane Jean-François’s cutback but she blazed over from the penalty spot in their best effort, and the Belgium goalkeeper Diede Lemey helped keep Twente in it.

In the second half, the deadline day signing Alyssa Thompson had the ball in the net, turning in Sjoeke Nüsken’s low ball, but the flag shot up, Nüsken having been offside in the buildup.

Bompastor turned to her bench to try to shake things up soon after. Hamano and Nüsken both exited, the latter with a head injury, for Erin Cuthbert and former Twente player Wieke Kaptein.

Twente had another golden chance to take the lead just before the hour mark. Having won the ball in the Chelsea third, Alieke Tuin sent a low ball to the far post where Eva Oude Elberink was waiting but Baltimore made the tackle.

Their chances were fleeting and as each one came and went without a goal, it felt like the home side would be punished. However, it would be Chelsea rueing their profligacy. Roord’s cutback found Van Ginkel and the captain shifted on to her right foot and lashed past goalkeeper Livia Peng.

The Blues kept pushing. They have not delivered thrilling performances this term but they have delivered results and in the Netherlands they continued to fuel that narrative. Lynn Groenewegen’s step on the foot of Guro Reiten gave the visiting team a penalty, but they could arguably have had one moments earlier when a late boot went into Cuthbert’s shin. Baltimore converted to level the scores.

A winner eluded them, but they have opportunities to steady the ship against Paris FC and St Pölten before they play old foes Barcelona, Roma and then two-time champions Wolfsburg.

Header image: [Photograph: Leiting Gao/SPP/Shutterstock]