After one of the worst moments of Arsenal’s season, with Leah Williamson rupturing her Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) against Manchester United in midweek, The Gunners have a UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final to focus their minds on, their first in a decade.
Jonas Eidevall’s side take on former winners VfL Wolfsburg over two legs. Arsenal will contest the first leg at the Volkswagen Arena this afternoon.
Last time out against VfL Wolfsburg in 2021/2022, Arsenal were knocked out at the quarter-final stage. With a second leg tie set up for the Emirates Stadium in a little over a week’s time with what’s set to be a record crowd in attendance, The Gunners must do everything in their power to get a positive result in Germany this afternoon.
When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Arsenal boss Eidevall admitted that losing Williamson is a blow, but it is all about looking forward.
“Of course, it’s a very tough injury,” Eidevall said. “She’s been in and around the training ground which is great to help her stay connected and now we just have to follow the process of a long-term injury.
“We are going to miss Leah, just like we are missing Beth (Mead) and Viv (Miedema), but it’s also about looking forward as a football club. Part of our success this season is that even when players have been injured and unavailable, they’ve still contributed off pitch which has made them a really strong group.”
Injuries have been a major problem this season for the North Londoners. The club are currently dealing with three Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries while a hamstring injury has cut Kim Little’s season short and both Caitlin Foord and Lina Hurtig are still unavailable for this crucial tie. On a positive note, this means that some players have got more minutes than they may have got if those injured players were fit. Eidevall and his coaching staff have also been able to try out different formations and styles of play in all competitions.
“Kim (Little), our captain, is travelling with the team to show her support,” Eidevall said. “It just shows the commitment that the players have towards the team.
“It’s all about being present. We have to play as well as we possibly can, but also to remember that no matter what happens, it’s only half-time after the game, it’s just like when we went away to Bayern Munich.
“We want to be a part of all of the big competitions and we love to play these games. This is where we want to be at a club like Arsenal; to have the ability to be able to compete, so of course we need to find a way in which we can keep all of our players as healthy as possible.”
Opponents VfL Wolfsburg are one of the biggest clubs in the women’s game and they have an array of individual talent in their squad that will be able to cause all kinds of problems for Arsenal.
“They have a lot of power and speed and a lot of individual qualities that are very different from each other which gives them lots going forward in attack,” Eidevall said. “It also gives them variety off the bench.
“They have one of the best attacks in Europe.”
Arsenal’s UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final, first leg tie against VfL Wolfsburg kicks-off at 2.30pm.
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