Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers has praised her side’s resilience following a 3-0 victory over OH Leuven to close out the Champions League league phase.
Arsenal have won their final game of this UEFA Women’s Champions League league phase in Belgium, against OH Leuven. This means that the Gunners took 5th place in the final league phase table. They will be seeded in tomorrow’s draw for the knock out phase.
Despite a slow start in the new-look group phase which saw them fall to defeats against Lyon and Bayern Munich, Arsenal have performed better over recent games, now on a five-game winning streak across all competitions.
“We’ve had other types of games compared to last block,” Slegers reflected on the side’s recent form. “So, we have been playing against so far the four teams that we’ve played against this block, they are sitting in more in mid and low blocks. We have been working on the details against those type of blocks and I’m happy with how we have performed. So now for us, bravery, again, was important tonight and doing everything together.
“I think the learning so far in the season is that we can’t wait for anything. We have to start well and start fast. I think in general, we we’ve played against a lot of different teams and that’s I think the charm of this new system. Which is nice, and of course it’s it started with the loss against Lyon at home and I think in that game, they were the better team. So we had to accept it, that game. Last year, we lose the first game against Lyon as well 2-1 but then we come back, but then with this new system, you don’t have a chance to come back.
“But then I think results have been better with the exception of Bayern where we what we do really well in the first half, we have a lead and we are not happy with giving that away.
“With the starting position for tonight and us needing the win, we were already secure in the knockout phase, but we definitely wanted the three points and it was a moment, a scenario in the 1st half, and we were one nil up and the other standings were positive for us, we had the option to go up to the to the top 4, but we don’t. We can’t control what the other teams do.
“For where we started now, ending in the in the fifth place is okay after tonight and I’m happy with three points, clean sheet and the performance.”
Katie McCabe ended the game in midfield, with Emily Fox and Taylor Hinds taking up the full back positions. It was a bit of a forced decision as Victoria Pelova did not travel with the team due to illness, admitted the head coach.
“She’s [McCabe] played in midfield a couple of times before in her Arsenal career. I don’t think I have done that before but like I just said, we didn’t have a lot of options in midfield and Katie looked really good, very fresh. She has a lot of game understanding and I think she did really well in midfield so we quickly talked her through the role. She picked it up straight away and did really well.”
Arsenal could face either Atletico Madrid or OH Leuven (again). Dutch Slegers says she liked playing in Leuven, admitting “I like this place. It’s close to my home as well. I thought the atmosphere was fantastic.”
We find out tomorrow whether Arsenal return to Leuven in the play off rounds. The draw takes place on December 18 at 12pm BST, and will be streamed live on UEFAtv.
