Catarina Macario Misses Chelsea’s Champions League Clash with Twente

The reason behind USWNT player Catarina Macario’s absence from the Chelsea team for their Women’s Champions League match against FC Twente has been explained by manager Sonia Bompastor.

Macario, who has struggled with injuries, is not included on Chelsea’s roster for their second Women’s Champions League group stage match. After sustaining an ACL injury in June 2022, the USWNT forward missed over two years of action before returning in March. She regrettably missed the Olympics this summer because of a knee ailment, which prevented her from witnessing the USWNT’s gold medal victory over Brazil in the final.

Bompastor’s Explanation

In a pre-match press conference, Bompastor explained that Macario’s absence was part of a carefully managed plan to help her regain full fitness.

“We are building some minutes and building her fitness,” Bompastor said. “That’s part of the plan and part of her own process. We work a lot individually with every player and we try to give them what they need to be fit and back to their best level.”

Bompastor further added that keeping Macario in London for individual work was the right decision:

“We just felt it was the good decision to have her stay in London, working individually with some staff, and she will be ready for the game on Sunday.”