It was not a night anyone will remember for the football. Chelsea will not care.
Keira Walsh scored the only goal at the Instalaciones de Zubieta on Wednesday evening and Chelsea went through 6-2 on aggregate against Real Sociedad, booking their place in the league phase of the Women's Champions League. The draw is on Friday.
One goal, one corner, job done
Sonia Bompastor made four changes from the side that won 5-2 in London a week earlier. Lucy Bronze, Kadiesha Buchanan, Lexi Potter and Wieke Kaptein all came into the starting eleven.
Ellie Carpenter was the best thing about the first half, delivering cross after cross that Chelsea could not finish. Lauren James dragged one past the post. Walsh met a Carpenter delivery but Julia Arrula saved comfortably, then denied Carpenter herself.
Goalless at the break. Giulia Dragoni came on after it to make her Chelsea debut.
The goal arrived in the 54th minute and it came from a corner routine rather than open play. Aggie Beever-Jones had been played in by Carpenter a minute earlier and Arrula pushed her strike away. From the resulting short corner the ball reached Walsh outside the box and she curled it into the net.
Sociedad had a spell after that. Hannah Hampton pushed Ainhoa Marin's effort behind. Nelly Las dragged a shot wide at the other end. Chelsea saw out the closing stages without much fuss.
Bompastor: 'People will think it's easy'
The Chelsea manager was quick to point out that Real Sociedad were not a soft draw.
"I'm pleased with the result. We kept a clean sheet, which is always important, and when you do that, you always have a bigger chance to win games," she told the club's website.
"I'm glad we could rotate the team with the starting 11, but also the players who came in. Today we gave some really good opportunities to the young players to come and experience a Champions League game.
"People will probably think when you are Chelsea, it's easy to do, but we played against a really strong team in Real Sociedad. 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."
What comes next
Chelsea find out their league-phase opponents on Friday. The rotation, the debuts and the clean sheet all point in the same direction: Bompastor has depth to work with, and she is not afraid to use it in a knockout tie.
Two legs, six goals, qualification secured. That will do.
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