UWCL: Alessia Russo and Renée Slegers discuss blockbuster Arsenal vs Chelsea clash | OneFootball

Alessia Russo, Renée Slegers and Arsenal are ready to face London rivals Chelsea next in their UEFA Women’s Champions League title defence. The reigning champions are up against the eight-time Women’s Super League winners in the quarter-finals this week.

The title-holders will host Women’s Super League champions Chelsea on Tuesday night from the Emirates Stadium. The game will mark the first meeting between the sides on the European stage, and the Gunners will hope to gain a strong advantage before heading to West London next Wednesday.

Arsenal are heading into the first leg in a confident mood following their dominant 5-0 victory against West Ham on Saturday afternoon. Despite Chelsea suffering a shock 1-1 draw away at newly-promoted London City Lionesses, head coach Slegers stresses her Arsenal side are not underestimating their opponents.

“I think all teams go through different phases, and it’s much easier said than done to be unbeaten and be at your highest level constantly across seasons,” she said.

“If you look at Chelsea and what they’ve been doing, I think they’ve been excellent at doing that for a very long time. And if I look at their team and their squad, they have a lot of quality so we’re prepared to play against a very good team tomorrow.”

Arsenal the only English club to win UWCL

With their 1-0 victory against Barcelona on 24th May last year, Arsenal became European champions for the second time in their history. Having won their maiden title in 2007, with a sole Alex Scott goal, the Gunners remain the only English side to have their name on the trophy.

Chelsea have come close to European glory before. In 2021, they reached the final but came up against a Barcelona side who were out for revenge following their final loss in the previous season. Following their 4-0 defeat to Barcelona, the Blues have struggled overcoming the Spanish champions who Arsenal took down in heroic fashion last summer.

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Arsenal striker Russo confirms their winning pedigree drives them on for further success.

“Obviously we had an amazing season last year in the Champions League and won it previously as well. And I feel grateful that Arsenal have that history,” the Lioness said.

“But it’s a now a new season, times change, and all our focus is on doing it again. We loved that feeling of winning the trophy in Lisbon, and I think every player will say they want to experience that all over again.”

Alessia Russo UWCL top scorer

Russo currently sits top of the goalscoring charts, with seven goals to her name on the European stage. With 21 G/A to her name across all competitions this season, the 27-year-old seems to ‘have gone up a level this season’.

“I’m just enjoying football,” she said. “We’ve got so many great players that I get to play with week in, week out. And, I think when you get to this point of the season, you’re used to playing with everyone.”

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Russo humbly admits it’s not just her form, but rather the whole team is in a ‘really good place’ right now. However, the England forward seems to love playing on the European stage. Currently in line for the Golden Boot, she fell just three shy of winning the same award last season.

One of the things that Russo believes is behind this success, is coming up against different styles of play.

“I love diving into different styles of football and playing against different kinds of systems. So I think that’s something I really enjoy in the Champions League. I came to Arsenal for these Champions League nights, and I feel really grateful to play in them.”

FIFA female coach mandate

Earlier this week, FIFA announced a new mandate across both domestic and international women’s football. The groundbreaking ruling will require at least two female staff members seated on the bench, with one occupying the role of head or assistant coach. There is also a requirement for there to be a female member of the medical team.

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Tuesday’s mouthwatering UWCL clash will see two female managers come head to head in Europe’s most prestigious competition. A competition in which both Sonia Bompastor and Slegers have guided their team to victory. In fact, Bompastor holds the record as the first and only woman to win the UWCL as a player and a manager, both with her native OL Lyonnes.

When asked about the new FIFA ruling, Russo expressed how proud she feels to play under female coaches for both club and country.

“I feel really fortunate to play for Renée and Sarina — both incredible female coaches leading the way. I’m lucky to learn off them, and hopefully that inspires girls to want to go and do that for themselves and create their own journey. I think it’s a shame that it has to be put into place, but hopefully that sets up more people going forward to be in those kinds of roles and have role models like Renée and Sarina to learn from.”

Leah Williamson unavailable for Chelsea clash

The two-time Euros-winning captain will be unavailable for the first leg of the quarter-final as she is nursing an ongoing hamstring issue.

Despite ‘progressing well’, Tuesday’s clash with Chelsea comes just too soon for the Arsenal vice-captain. However, Slegers believes Williamson will feature before the upcoming international break in April.

“That’s the plan. It’s not a big issue, we just have to be smart and find the right moment when her body is fully ready to have her playing for us.”

Alongside Williamson, Arsenal will be missing several other key players. The three Matildas — Steph Catley, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Caitlin Foord — will also be unavailable as they have just landed on Monday morning after playing in the Asian Cup in Australia.

Olivia Smith, Arsenal’s £1 million signing, is training on an individual plan to manage workload, and could feature in Tuesday’s UWCL clash.

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Renée Slegers wants Arsenal to be prepared for all scenarios

Arsenal vs Chelsea is one of the WSL’s longest-standing rivalries. Since the league’s inception in 2011, the two London outfits have won 11 of the available titles, with Manchester City and Liverpool sweeping the rest.

Slegers acknowledged Chelsea’s unfortunate injury scenario, which has seen just eight outfield players training ahead of this match. However, with just two days to prepare, she ensured that her side is ready for the unknown.

“It’s been a very short turnaround from the West Ham game, we’ve had two full days to prepare. It doesn’t mean that the work didn’t start earlier, but all the details were set in those two days.

“I think there’s an unpredictability with how Chelsea is going to come out and play, what shape they’ll play in and what players they’ll have available. So we’ll just have to be ready for all scenarios.”

For viewers at home, you can watch every match of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, live on Disney+ as part of existing customer subscriptions. The match will also be available on BBC 2 and iPlayer for fans in the UK.

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