Morning all.
I know Mikel Arteta held his pre-match press conference yesterday but today isn’t about the men because the women’s side of Arsenal Football Club take on Lyon in the first leg of the Women’s Champions League semi-final at lunchtime today.
Lyon are top of their league having not lost a game to date. Joe Montemurro, once at Arsenal will go head to head with Renee Slegers, who during her pre-match press conference said:
I really feel like since I’ve come to the club that it’s one club. I’ve naturally been in contact with the assistant coach on the men’s side because he’s Dutch. But after we won against Madrid, I got messages from everyone across the club, including Mikel, and he said it was inspirational. If you look at what they now did against Madrid, I think it’s so strong.
I think they look like a team and I think that’s why they won against Madrid with so much individual quality, so it’s amazing to be part of this. There was just some media here at the club as well. Jurrien Timber is sitting there and he says, “Renée, good luck for tomorrow.” So the guys also know what we are doing, and we know what they are doing, and we support each other, so it’s great.”
I think it’s great that both the men and women at Arsenal support each other and why wouldn’t they? Surely, they all want to win trophies just as they want Arsenal FC to be successful.
Arsenal injury news: Alessia Russo return after missing the 5-1 thrashing of Leicester City last weekend through injury but Laia Codina, Lina Hurtig and Daphne van Domselaar remain absent.
Lyon’s Wendie Renard faces a late fitness test, otherwise everyone else is available.
I’d be lying if I said I knew all about Lyon because I don’t but I do know they are one of the best women’s teams in the game. Arsenal will have their work cut out today for sure. On paper it should be a cracking game of football. A game which TNT Sport are broadcasting here in the UK.
From Arsenal.com:
Lyon topped group A of the Champions League group stage with six wins from six, going nine points clear of VfL Wolfsburg. In the knockout stages, Lyon beat Bayern Munich 6-1 on aggregate. They are this competition’s most successful club with eight Champions League titles and are looking for their first win since 2022.
Arsenal are aiming to reach a second Champions League final, the last being in 2006/07, when we became, and remain, the only English side to win the competition.
As said before Mikel Arteta’s players faced Real Madrid, history in the competition is irrelevant because it’s this group of players as well as Renée Slegers who are going through this for the first time together. What matters is today, not what happened back in 2006/07 or the period of time since.
Three time Champions League winner, Mariona Caldentey sat alongside her manager during the pre match press conference:
We are here because we deserve to be here. We have to believe that. Now we face Lyon and they’re a top, top team, and we have to respect that but we have to have no fear. We want to go for it. It’s two games, and the first one is at home with our fans, so we are there for that. We are so excited to play. We have our football as well and we want to show to the world.
I’ll leave it there..
Good luck ladies….
Beth mead kicks off.
Hopefully we can be inspired by the Men’s team.
This ref is letting the Lyon players get away with diving and some dodgy decisions on who fouled who, and since their goal some blatant time wasting.
Poor ref, poor finishing from Arsenal too.
Bury this pen…..
That’s the way to take a penalty. 1 – 1
and now it’s 1 – 2. Great breakaway goal. 😕
☹️
However this ends, we still have a chance…
I don’t often watch women’s football but that was great,in my opinion Lyon were the better team though.
If we could have held on to 1-1 it would have been a great result.
Even 1 goal down it’s game on for the second leg.