Key events
Alexander Straus also spoke about the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses in his press conference.
“Arsenal are strong opponents, whose depth in the squad is second to none. We know their quality in attack but we’ve also identified some weaknesses where we can hurt them. We’re here to compete against the best in Europe. If we believe in ourselves and produce our quality on the pitch, I’m sure we can get a result.”
Jonas Eidevall spoke to the press in anticipation of tonight’s game.
“They’re really strong in the counter-attacking game. They move with a lot of pace once they’re facing forward and that part you have to look out for when you’re playing against them.
“I think they’ve been looking really strong on their set pieces so far this season, so that’s another part you need to watch out for. They’re well organised, a good team but so are we, and while they have strengths, they’ll also have weaknesses, and we need to exploit them. We need to mitigate our weaknesses and play to our strengths, and that’s going to be the tactical battle here tomorrow night.”
In case you missed what happened last time …
Vålerenga may be a team you’re less familiar with. It’s the first time the Norwegian side has qualified for the Champions League group stage. Sophie Downey gives you the lowdown on Group C’s wildcard below:
Arsenal are joined by Bayern Munich, Juventus and Vålerenga in a difficult Group C. Read Tom Garry’s group-by-group analysis and predictions below:
The teams
Bayern Munich: Grohs, Viggósdóttir, Hansen, Gwinn, Damnjanović, Lohmann, Bühl, Harder, Zadrazil, Simon, Stanway
Subs: Mahmutovic, Sembrant, Dallmann, Schüller, Şehitler, Zigiotti, Doucouré, Zawistowska, Kerr
Arsenal: Zinsberger, Fox, Codina, Williamson, Mariona, Little, McCabe, Maanum, Wälti, Foord, Blackstenius
Subs: van Domselaar, Williams, Wubben-Moy, Catley, Reid, Cooney-Cross, Kühl, Mead, V. Lia, Godfrey, Russo
⚫️ 🔴
🧤 Zinsberger between the sticks
🧱 Williamson at the back
⚡️Blackstenius leads the lineCOME ON YOU GUNNERS ✊ pic.twitter.com/GnShbBK4od
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) October 9, 2024
Preamble
Hello and welcome to this Women’s Champions League minute-by-minute! Arsenal play Bayern Munich at the FC Bayern Campus.
It’s only the third time the two teams meet after their first encounter during the 2022/23 Champions League campaign. Bayern Munich won the first leg 1-0 before Arsenal got their revenge in the return fixture to advance to the semi-final.
Arsenal will need to reignite that fighting spirit if they’re to win tonight. The away side haven’t quite struggled this season but they’ve been far from their blistering best. One win and two draws, including a stalemate with Everton over the weekend, leave Jonas Eidevall’s team sixth in the Women’s Super League Game.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich are first in the Frauen-Bundesliga, winning all five of their games and scoring 18 goals in the process. Alexander Straus’ team are match fit and raring to go as the Frauen-Bundesliga started almost a month before the WSL. Will that have any bearing on proceedings tonight?
Let’s wait and see. Kick off is at 5:45pm. Keep refreshing this page for updates and feel free to send me an email if you have any thoughts you’d like to share.
