Manchester City midfielder Laura Coombs says that the UEFA Women’s Champions League has now become the most prestigious competition in club football.
It is 12 years to the day since Coombs made her full debut in the old UEFA Women’s Cup for former club Arsenal in a 9-0 victory over Greek club PAOK Thessaloniki. Arsenal won a hugely one-sided two-legged affair 18-0 on aggregate as they progressed to the last-16 of the competition.
Reflecting on the last 12 years, Coombs said that the UEFA Women’s Champions League has progressed significantly and the competition is now seen as the most prestigious in club football.
When speaking to FAWSL Full-Time in a Manchester City press conference, Coombs said “I was obviously young back then and it wasn’t for me how it is now – now it is the most prestigious competition and you want to go as far as you can. It was a bit above me back then.
“I can’t believe that it was 12 years ago but it has come on so much since then, I don’t even think that it was called the Champions League back then.
“The competition, the teams that are involved now, it has just moved on such a long way and it is only getting stronger as well.”
Coombs’ most recent outing in the UEFA Women’s Champions League came last week as Manchester City drew 1-1 with Real Madrid in the first leg of their Round 2 tie in Spain. The two sides meet in Manchester for the return leg tomorrow night and the midfielder believes that there is enough quality in the squad for The Cityzens to go all the way this season.
She said “That’s where we want to go (win the Champions League) and I think we have a really great, strong squad and I think we are in a better place in terms of gelling together this year. We have had a year with Gareth (Taylor) now so we know how he wants us to play.
“I think we have a great chance but it is down to us to give it all that we’ve got.”
Commenting further on Taylor, Coombs said that she is enjoying working under her head coach and that she feels that she can still improve her game.
“I’ve felt really good working under Gareth since last pre-season, I just needed a chance to get a run of games;” Coombs said. “I got that and I felt really confident under him. I know what he expects from me, he makes it really clear, it makes it really easy to work with him.
“We have a good relationship and I feel like I can improve under him going forward.”
Manchester City’s UEFA Women’s Champions League Round 2 second leg tie against Real Madrid kicks-off at 7pm on Wednesday evening. Tickets for the match remain on sale and can be purchased by clicking here. The game is also being shown live on City+.
About The Author
