Arsenal Women goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar has insisted the Gunners want to defend their Champions League title after advancing to the semi-finals on Wednesday night. Arsenal lost 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge but still progressed after a 3-2 aggregate victory over their London rivals.

“We want to defend our title,” van Domselaar explained after the match. “That’s what we started the season with. It’s an important part of the legacy, and I feel like we have a lot to bring as well. We’re looking forward to the next game where we’ll do everything we can to defend our title.”

Dutch Goalkeeper Makes Crucial Saves

The Dutch shot stopper made several important saves to help her team across the line in the second leg, with her teammates pushing her towards the away fans at full-time to show their appreciation for her performance. Van Domselaar reflected on the special moment with typical humility.

“I don’t like to be in the centre of attention, but it’s nice of them,” she said. “I feel like we did it as a team and that little special moment for me was special for them to do that. It’s been a bit of an up and down season for me personally but over the last few weeks I feel better.”

Defensive Display Gets Team Over Line

On the defensive display as a whole, van Domselaar added praise for her teammates. “Sometimes you need to be a bit lucky. I feel like today we had the luck on our side. We can be proud of what we’ve done defensively, for sure. Everyone just literally put their body on the line.”

Arsenal will discover their semi-final opponents after the Lyon vs Wolfsburg second leg concludes on Thursday evening.

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Chelsea have officially recorded the largest pre-tax loss in Premier League history after posting a staggering deficit of £262.4 million for the 2024/25 financial year.

The figures represent a massive swing from the previous year’s profit, which was largely fuelled by the internal sale of the club’s women’s team to subsidiary company Blueco Midco.

The financial accounts for the period ending June 30, 2025, eclipse the previous Premier League record of £197.5 million set by Manchester City in 2011. This comes just 12 months after the Blues posted a £128.4 million profit, though that surplus was heavily inflated by the sale of Chelsea Women for nearly £200 million.

Operating Costs Soar Despite Strong Revenue

Club officials have attributed the significant downturn to a sharp rise in operating costs throughout the 2024/25 campaign. Despite the alarming headline figure, Chelsea did record revenue of £490.9 million, their second highest ever, aided by income generated from their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Crucially for fans and manager alike, Chelsea insists they remain compliant with the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules. While the regulations generally limit losses to £105 million over a three-year rolling period, the club has utilised specific add-backs to stay within the limits.

Women’s Team Records £17.1 Million Loss

The financial report also provided an update on Chelsea Women, who recorded a loss of £17.1 million despite the growing popularity of the game helping the side generate a healthy £21.3 million in revenue during the same period. This is concerning, given that the women’s game continues to expand rapidly.

Since Todd Boehly’s consortium took control from Roman Abramovich in the summer of 2022, Chelsea have spent approximately £1.5 billion on new talent. Revenue is expected to soar past £700 million in the 2025/26 financial year.

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UEFA has rejected Sonia Bompastor’s criticism of officiating standards in the Women’s Champions League after the Chelsea boss slammed VAR for failing to penalise Arsenal’s Katie McCabe for pulling Alyssa Thompson’s hair during Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg. The governing body insists it has full faith in the officials selected for the competition.

Bompastor was shown two yellow cards, resulting in a red during Chelsea’s 1-0 win, which saw the Blues crash out 3-2 on aggregate to Arsenal.

The French manager was fuming after VAR failed to review McCabe’s clear hair pull on Thompson late in the match, and also referenced the disallowed Veerle Buurman goal from the first leg.

Bompastor Questions Why VAR Not Checking Incidents

“I can probably understand the referees sometimes can’t see that, but I don’t understand why the VAR is not checking that situation,” Bompastor explained after the match. “At the end, I’m the one who gets a red card, where I think the Arsenal player should be the one who gets a red card. What is the VAR doing in these games? If we have the VAR, why are we not checking these situations? It’s not good enough.”

Thompson was reportedly crying after the incident, with the American winger visibly upset by McCabe’s actions. However, McCabe later posted on social media that the hair pull was not intentional, saying she was genuinely reaching for the shirt.

UEFA Stands Firm on Referee Standards

Sky Sports News understands UEFA has full faith in the officials selected in the Champions League this season, given their experience in European and international competitions. The governing body is confident in their training and development plans for referees in the women’s game, something they’ve invested heavily in over recent years.

Bompastor’s frustration is completely understandable given the obvious nature of the incident.

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