Manchester City defender Alex Greenwood believes that the club’s UEFA Women’s Champions League round of 32 second leg tie against Goteborg is the kind of game that every player wants to play in.
City resume their involvement in European football’s premier competition tomorrow afternoon as they take on the Swedish champions at The Academy Stadium. Gareth Taylor’s side have an excellent chance of securing qualification with City holding a 2-1 advantage from the first leg.
When speaking in Manchester City’s pre-match press conference in which FA Women’s Super League Full-Time were present, Greenwood said that the Goteborg game is one that every player aspires to play in.
“Games like tomorrow is what it is all about and what you play football for” said Greenwood.
“Winning the Champions League with Lyon is an experience in itself but if I can do it with a team in my own country, it would be even bigger than what I have done before.”
Greenwood lifted the UEFA Women’s Champions League with former club Lyon in August and was a late substitute as they defeated VfL Wolfsburg 3-1 in San Sebastian in the final. She went on to say that there are similarities in the mentalities of both her former and current clubs.
The defender commented by saying “The winning mentality is installed in both teams, just in different ways.
“Lyon have experience, they have been there and done it on a number of occasions and we (Manchester City) haven’t quite done that yet but we have just won the FA Cup, we’ve won our last three games and that shows a strong mentality.”
A strong mentality is certainly something which Manchester City needed a week ago when Goteborg took a third-minute lead in the first leg. Defender Greenwood was delighted with her side’s response to their early setback and had full confidence in their ability to manage the rest of the game.
“It was a wake up call for us, it happens, it’s football and it’s how you react to it” said Greenwood. “Our reaction was perfect, we controlled the game pretty much from that goal.
“When we scored, I had no doubt that we would go on and win the game.”
Greenwood completed her first 90 minutes in the UEFA Women’s Champions League since her days as an Everton player in Gothenburg last week and she will now be looking to clock up more minutes in the competition in tomorrow’s second leg at The Academy Stadium.
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