‘We want to show courage’ – Arsenal boss Slegers discusses UWCL final challenge | OneFootball

Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers says that her side want to show courage and find ways of beating UEFA Women’s Champions League final opponents FC Barcelona.

The Gunners take on the Spaniards at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon this evening.

When speaking to the media in the pre-match press conference, Arsenal boss Slegers said that her side will be courageous in finding solutions to get the better of the reigning European champions.

“We want to show courage,” Slegers said. “We respect Barcelona as a team, they’re a really, really good football team. We’re very humble for the occasion but also, we are here to win, we have to find ways to win and I am convinced that the game will shift in momentum.

“For us, it’s going to be important that we deal with all moments really, really well in the game. We need courage, we need discipline, we need to be switched on. We’re going to have to make a lot of decisions on the stage, so if we do that really well, I think we can perform really well in the game. We have to believe in our capacity.”

Going on to discuss the mentality in the squad, Slegers said that a strong culture has developed in her time as head coach and that the players are empowered to display their strengths.

She said “What we’ve tried to achieve is to create a really good environment for the players to perform, show belief in everyone, empower people and see everyone’s strengths as much as possible. That’s what we’ve tried to do, it’s not only me but I think that’s been one active choice from my side to try to empower and see the best in everyone.

“I think it also happened organically in the environment that we were in with all staff and players. That was the beautiful process that we were in, that was happening organically. It’s been really good for us and I’m really happy that we got the best out of the players, there’s so much more to give as well. There’s been a huge ownership piece and a lot of accountability on the players’ side.”

The 2024/2025 UEFA Women’s Champions League final between Arsenal and FC Barcelona kicks-off at 5pm this evening.