Emma Hayes looks to keep QUADRUPLE hopes alive with Chelsea

Emma Hayes and Fran Kirby take the next step towards footballing immortality when they lead Chelsea into the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich in Germany tonight.

Hayes’ outstanding side are a maximum eight matches from rewriting the record books and completing a quadruple Pep Guardiola and Manchester City can only dream of while they battle Tottenham for the League Cup, at Wembley.

It has never been achieved in men’s football and comes at a time when the women’s game has never been more competitive. Results reading like cricket scores are a thing of the long and distant past.

Manager Hayes was assistant coach at Arsenal in 2007 when they won four trophies that comprised a domestic treble and the then titled Uefa Cup. The Champions League has a different ring to it and Camden-born Hayes has spent the last nine years preparing Chelsea for this opportunity.

England striker Kirby, 27, who Hayes signed in 2015 could be key against a highly-rated Bayern side.

The former Reading player is having the season of an already glittering career – less than two years after she feared her career was over when she was gravely ill with pericarditis, a heart disease that left her unable to walk up a flight of stairs and bed bound for most of the day.

This season she has featured in attacking line-up with Sam Kerr and Pernille Harder and last month signed yet another contract extension.

Hayes’ side are eight matches from rewriting the record books and completing a quadruple

It’s never been done in men’s football and may come when women’s football is at its strongest

Her full and admirable recovery is a credit to her physical and mental capabilities, something that Hayes spotted in this season’s Player of the Year elect as a youngster.

She recalled: ‘I remember a moment when she pirouetted on the ball against Kumagai at Arsenal and blew past her and thought ‘wow! That’s unbelievable!’

‘I watched Fran as a Reading kid when I was academy director at Arsenal. She was so dynamic and I wanted to bring that sort of play to our team – the rest is history.

‘She came into Chelsea, a big club with no history, and has since been instrumental in the history we have created here.

‘Her relentless pursuit of excellence and winning are two things I love most. She strives for better and that has been mirrored by who she has grown into as a person. Chelsea and Fran Kirby are a perfect match.

‘This season is her proudest achievement. To recover after what she went through to produce even better performances you have to have unbelievable character.’

Kirby was afforded time and space to cry in Hayes’ office when she initially struggled on her return to training as the pair decided to keep the full extent of her problems from the team so they would not be distracted in their pursuit of greatness.

England striker Kirby, 27, who was signed by Hayes, could be key against Bayern Munich

Hayes signed Kirby back in 2015 and has she has been instrumental to Chelsea ever since 

It proved to be a managerial master stroke for Kirby and her team-mates.

Talking about the unique bond between player and manager, Kirby said: ‘It is honesty. We are both really open with each other.

‘We always talk and push each other. We talk to each other when things are not going well – and when they are going well.

‘She is someone I have grown up with in this environment and I respect a lot. She is honest with me if I am not playing well and if things are not working we sit down and try to make it work.’

But do not be fooled into thinking it is all fun and games in the Chelsea camp – they play hard and work hard.

Hayes, backing up Kirby’s observations how training is so competitive in the build-up to big matches, joked: ‘Training is feisty but punch ups do not happen in women’s football – that’s nonsense that boys do. We would rather bitch about it – that’s even better!’