Chelsea duo Zecira Musovic and Erin Cuthbert have said the unpredictability and high level of competition in the Champions League will make Chelsea work harder ahead of facing Cuthbert's former local rivals Celtic in two vital Group Stage games.
The west London club continue their Champions League group stage when they travel to the bottom of the group Celtic on Wednesday before hosting the Scottish side in the return fixture on Nov. 20.
Cuthbert told ESPN that playing in the Champions League has always been her childhood dream, however, the new competitiveness of the competition means Chelsea have to be far more focused to secure wins.
"I think every young player dreams of playing in the Champions League," the midfielder said. "As a little girl I dreamt of playing in the World Cup dreamt of playing in the Champions League. That was just my thing growing up.
"It's the biggest European trophy that you can have, but I think it's really exciting that other teams are now coming into it and it's now sort of more open tournament.
"I think that only adds to the unpredictability. That only adds to you as a player having to be more switched on every single game. You have to be on it; you have to be alert. Everybody wants to beat the big team; everybody wants the giant-killing result, but I think it's up to us to make sure that we're on it. We've got a tough group to try and navigate through and I don't think we can think further than that."
Chelsea's Women's Super League (WSL) rivals Manchester City secured a shock 2-0 win over Barcelona last month, while Arsenal fell to a 5-2 humbling at the hands of Bayern Munich following a second-half hat trick from former Blue Pernille Harder.
The 26-year-old believes staying focused on the task at hand is pivotal to going far in the tournament. In the 2021-22 season, Chelsea were eliminated in the group stage after a heavy defeat to Wolfsburg. The season before, they reached the final for the first time, but suffered a 4-0 loss, this time to Barcelona. In the past two seasons, Chelsea advanced to the Champions League semifinals but were ultimately stopped by the Catalans, who went on to win the trophy each time.
"As soon as you look too far ahead, start thinking about other rounds in the competition, then you don't take care of business," Cuthbert said. "I've been in the position before where we never got out of the group, with Wolfsburg in 2021 and we were too busy thinking about winning it [rather than] let's just win the group and be in an advantageous position come Christmas."
Sonia Bompastor's side sit top of Group B after beating Real Madrid and FC Twente last month. They are the only team in the group to have won both opening games and have maintained their unbeaten streak in the WSL.
Chelsea's next continental match-up is a former foe of Cuthbert, who played against Celtic during her time with Glasgow rivals Rangers. While Cuthbert is excited to see another Scottish team in the Champions League, she said her personal rivalry means she is even more eager to secure two wins against the side that has not picked up a point in the competition thus far.
"For me, it's super exciting. When we were drawn against Celtic, I was just buzzing my phone didn't stop ringing. Everybody wanted tickets from me, everybody wanted to come," she added.
"I think to have a Scottish team in the Champions League is brilliant. I think it shows how far our game has come, how far we've grown, and it makes me proud to be Scottish to even play against a Scottish team in the Champions League.
"Of course, I would love to beat them, especially being a fan of the rival team. Growing up and playing for Rangers for so many years, I've played against Celtic for so long. But of course, I'm proud of Celtic for having a team in the Champions League and getting through to the group stages; I think it's a big achievement, but for me, I will certainly be one that's wanting to beat them."
Goalkeeper Musovic, who started both Champions League games so far, believes that the heightened competition only raises Chelsea's standards in pursuit of the trophy that eluded former manager Emma Hayes during her 12-year tenure at the club.
"I think that just shows the development of the women's game right now. You have so many good teams around the whole of Europe that you can't really go into a game and count on a win. You have to put in a really good performance if you want to get all three points," she told ESPN.
"There are top teams in Europe. We have big ambitious and goals for this season. We want to go all the way. So once again, keeping the high standard in every possible way and in every game, and you never know really what to expect, but you can definitely expect a good game and a good opponent."