Atlético Madrid midfielder Vilde Bøe Risa says she is looking forward to facing her former club Man United in the Champions League this week.
On Thursday, Atlético Madrid face an unfamiliar opponent in Manchester United. United are making their first foray into the Champions League proper, and will face a stern test against a Madrid side who have been UWCL contenders for a decade. The two clubs have a number of things in common – they are both outside bets for the title race, hoping to disrupt one dominant team (FC Barcelona for Madrid; Chelsea for United), and they have shared a small number of players. One of these is Norway international Vilde Bøe Risa, who switched the red side of Manchester for Atlético in 2023.
With United’s visit approaching, Risa spoke to The Halfway Line ahead of what she emphasised will be a special game.
“I’m excited for the game,” Bøe Risa said. “It’s a big game coming up, and an especially special game for me because I feel like I know the girls and the club in and out. I still watch them play and follow them very close. I feel like it’s my team still.”
The Norwegian midfielder suggested she looks at her time at United with fondness, saying “My time at United was a really, really nice time in general, mostly because of the team we had and the girls that were in the team, that was just a really nice environment to be in. For me it was just a big step up in terms of sport and professionalism.
“I feel like I am going to play against my friends, and people that I miss playing with, so it’s a special game for me, and I was so happy to see that we are going to play against them in the Champions League”.
Bøe Risa is particularly close friends with United’s Millie Turner, who is currently sidelined due to injury. She acknowledged her disappointment – “of course its sad that Millie won’t play, because that would just be the perfect picture if we would play against each other here in Madrid,” adding that despite Turner’s absence, “I am just really looking forward to the game.”
For Norway, Bøe Risa plays alongside United players in Elisabeth Terland, Lisa Naalsund and Celin Bizet. Asked about the threats they will pose Madrid, she touched on a point that United fans and pundits have also been keen to celebrate – Terland’s unselfishness in front of goal.
“She [Terland] gives a lot of room for Tooney and now Jess Park to come into the pockets and play their game, and she is dangerous in the box”, adding that “Celin’s just really brave, she can play full-back, she can play winger and she’s not scared of going 1v1”.
Speaking about United generally, she stressed that Madrid are aware of United’s strengths, that “they are performing really well at the moment as a team, so it’s a difficult game for sure.”
United have often been jointly labelled as underdogs and underestimated, which Risa understands: “these are girls that work hard”, adding that despite not having the deep and star-studded squad of some of their rivals, United “get the potential out of the players that they have”, and “they should be a club that plays Champions League every year”.
Barcelona are not the only Spanish team says Bøe Risa
Atlético play their domestic football in Liga F, which has been largely dominated by FC Barcelona. Winning 10 titles, the Catalan club have firmly established a continental dominance, winning the UWCL in three consecutive seasons and becoming the first Spanish team to win a continental quadruple in 2024. Whilst this dominance has led to questions about the integrity of the league, Bøe Risa opined that there are improvements: “We do everything we can to show that the Spanish league is growing”.
She added that the UWCL is an opportunity to explore that growth, saying “It’s even more fun that we are playing teams from France and England and Germany, so we can compete against other leagues and see where we stand as a team.”
She hopes Atlético will carry their good form into the UWCL – prior to a heavy loss against Barcelona, they were unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions, including 4-0 wins over Granada CF and Levante UD. Their opening UWCL game was a 6-0 win over St. Pölten, which Risa hopes helped show that the club are not there to make up the numbers: “We can score that many goals – we are good with the ball, we are efficient.”
Atlético Madrid v Manchester United kicks off at 17:45 BST on Thursday evening, broadcast on Disney+.
