Hayes hails maturity of Chelsea players after Paris FC win

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes heaped praise on her players after a convincing 4-0 win over Paris FC in the Champions League.

The Blues were ruthless in the French capital and move into the knockout stages still unbeaten in the competition.

Goals from Fran Kirby, Mia Fishel, Guro Reiten and Maren Mjelde made the home side pay for some missed chances.

And Hayes was pleased with Chelsea's composure in the final third — particularly given the youthful nature of her line-up in Paris.

She said: "It showed a maturity. We were clinical, we had six chances and scored four goals.

"There were young players who've not had a lot of minutes in the Champions League and it just shows you what quality we've got in our squad to be able to put in a performance like that.

"The leadership at the back was excellent and it was really, really good from the whole side.

"It's the failures along the way that has led us to build a squad like this.

"Recognising that to compete on all fronts the quality has to be the standard that it is so you can make these changes.

"And if you want to be picking up medals at the end of the season, sometimes you have to sacrifice a little bit of your own personal playing time to do that.

"We're growing and learning. We know there's a long way to go but we're in a really strong position."

Chelsea's passage through as group winners means they will be seeded in the quarter-final draw and will avoid both Barcelona and Lyon.