UWCL: Austria Wien hold Paris FC as bid for historic league phase continues | OneFootball

A strong defensive performance saw Austria Wien pick up an impressive goalless draw at favourites Paris FC in the first leg of the UEFA Women’s Champions League third qualifying round.

Austria Wien kept their dreams of a first-ever appearance in the UWCL league phase alive with a determined 0-0 draw. For the side, this qualifying campaign signals unchartered territory. The club has never before reached the main stage of Europe’s most elite competition, something which they are one game away from changing.

Their opponents, Paris FC, have regularly competed in the competition. The club’s women’s section — which was officially founded as FC Juvisy in 1971 — became one of the most successful clubs in women’s French football. Under this name, the side made several quarter-final appearances in the competition, before reaching the semi-finals in the 2012/13 season. However, a 9-1 defeat on aggregate saw them bow out to French rivals Olympique Lyonnais.

Paris FC purchased the club in 2017 and transformed it from an amateur side into a fully professional women’s setup. In the 2023/24 season, Paris FC made history as they reached the group stage of the UWCL — the first time since their rebranding. It was a historic qualifying campaign which saw the side knock out both previous semi-finalists in Arsenal and VFL Wolfsburg.

Despite the gulf in European pedigree, Austria Wien stood firm in Paris, showing grit and unity to frustrate one of the continent’s most established sides to a limited two shots on target.

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Starting XIs

Paris FC

Chavas; Bogaert, Davis, Ould Hocine, Liagrie, Korosec, Corboz, Azzaro, Le Moguédec, Garbino, Matéo.

Austria Wien

Pal; Kirchberger, Schiechtl, Wenninger, Pavlovic, Weiss, Weilharter, Schöffel, Triendl, Pfattner, Strode.

Reaction

When reflecting on their performance, head coach Stefan Kenesei praised the team’s defensive stability and resilience.

“We are aware of what a difficult task it was today here in Paris. But we solved it very strongly defensively and maybe we could have solved one or two transition situations better in attack, but when you keep a clean sheet against Paris FC at the end of the day, it was a great performance and we’re obviously overjoyed today. We know that we can defend very well, but that doesn’t just include our goalkeeper and the back three in front of her, but all eleven players on the pitch. There’s a really good mentality and an incredible passion in our game and that just pushes us every minute.”

Kenesei also looked ahead, noting the challenge that remains but believes that dreams can be achieved.

“Of course, it won’t be any easier in Vienna, Paris remains the absolute favourite, but I do think that we might be able to get something out of ourselves at the Franz-Horr-Stadion with our fans behind us. In football, anything is possible, every team can write its own stories and fairy tales and that’s exactly what we’ll try to do on Thursday.”

Captain Carina Wenninger’s words show both pride and focus, as she called for the same effort in the return leg:

“We need at least as good a defensive performance again in the second leg in Vienna, we can’t let up by one percent. Going forward, we will of course try to set one or two more pinpricks and, ideally, score a goal.”

Up next

The second leg will take place on Thursday, September 18th at 19:45 CET at the Franz Horr Stadium. The return leg in Vienna promises a high stakes clash. Austria Wien will look to defy the odds and write history by reaching the league phase for the first time, against a Paris FC side that boasts decades of European experience.

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