We’re back in UEFA Women’s Champions League action for the first time since lifting the trophy in May with Tuesday’s visit of Lyon.
It’s an 8pm kick-off at Meadow Park in Borehamwood and tickets are on general sale for those wishing to join us at the beginning of the league phase.
We’ll be looking to get back to winning ways following two draws and one defeat in our last three Barclays Women’s Super League matches.
A PERFECT START
The French champions have picked up where they left off, earning maximum points in the Premiere Ligue with four wins from four games, 19 goals scored and just three conceded so far this season. They began the campaign with a 3-1 win at home to Marseille, before putting two past Saint-Etienne without reply away from home.
That was followed up with an emphatic 6-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain and, most recently, a triumphant 8-1 success away to Lens.
In fact, Lyon are unbeaten in all competitions since our 4-1 win in France, as we came from 2-1 down to win April’s Champions League semi-finals 5-3 on aggregate.
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WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Slegers: “We’re very excited, it all starts over again, so we start from scratch. We’re very proud of what we did last year and there was a lot going into that, but we all start over again, and everyone is constantly developing.
“Teams change and we’re going to play against an extremely strong opponent tomorrow. They’ve made a lot of changes as well in their squad. They have a new coach, so we’re extremely humble, but we of course also look forward to this occasion tomorrow.” – read every word of Renée’s pre-Lyon press conference.
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Jonatan Giraldez: “Arsenal are a very good team with good players, as they demonstrated last season. It’ll be a tough game and we’ll have to be perfect. Their recent results haven’t been good, but their performances have been interesting.
“I like the new format. I think it’s interesting because there is competitiveness between all the teams. It’s good for the popularity of the competition.”
FACTS AND STATS
The last time we were reigning champions, we started our campaign with a goalless draw against Lyon.
Lyon are unbeaten in their last 17 group stage matches in the Women’s Champions League (W13 D4), winning their last six in a row, with their last defeat outside of the knockout rounds coming against us in their opening game of the 2022/23 season.
Only Barcelona (81.6%) had a better passing accuracy on passes ending in the final third of the pitch than us (76.5%) and Lyon (76.8%) in the Women’s Champions League last season.
Lyon recorded the most high turnovers (181) in the Women’s Champions League last season and attempted the most shots from high turnovers (33), however, they scored just one goal following a high turnover, while we scored three such goals despite having 14 shots fewer than the French side (19 following a high turnover).
MATCH OFFICIALS
Italian referee Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi has been appointed to take charge of Tuesday’s game. VAR will be in use for this fixture.
Referee: Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi
Assistants: Francesca Di Monte and Stefania Signorelli
Fourth official: Martina Molinaro
VAR: Daniele Doveri
Assistant VAR: Federico La Penna
Queens of lyon
We made sure Lyon were unable to go invincible in all competitions last season by beating them 4-1 away from home in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
The comeback saw us win the tie 5-3 on aggregate after Lyon won the first leg 2-1 at Arsenal Stadium. As well as a Christiane Endler own goal, Mariona Caldentey, Alessia Russo and Caitlin Foord were the goalscorers as we advanced to the final.
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HOW TO WATCH
Tickets are available on general sale for those wishing to attend this fixture in person.
Otherwise, it’s being shown live on Disney+ in the UK. Find out which other broadcasters are showing the action live around the world.
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