Champions League

JONAS EIDEVALL believes it will be tricky to anticipate how Lyon will look when they play Arsenal in the Champions League at the Emirates tonight.The Gunners’ boss, 39, who has his sights set on knockout stage qualification, insists he has massive respect for the team his players trounced in October.
A win against Lyon for Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal will see the team qualify for the Champions League knockout stageCredit: Getty
Arsenal have won three of the four Champions League group stage fixtures they have playedCredit: Getty
Lyon, who are the tournament’s record-winning club with eight Champions League titles, have won eight of their last nine games since their 5-1 loss to Arsenal. 
The French giants have been battling with injuries to key players with star striker Ada Hegerberg and midfield ace Sara Dabritz among the those out of action. 
The team, who lost who lost 1-0 to PSG in France’s top-flight on Sunday, are also without the services of centre-backs Ellie Carpenter and Griedge Mbock.
In May Carpenter ruptured a knee ligament during Lyon’s Champions League final defeat of Barcelona. 
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However midfielder Amel Majri has reportedly returned to the French champs’ squad following a 15-month spell out due to an ACL injury and the birth of her daughter in July. 
Eidevall said: “It’s difficult to predict how Lyon will look (compared to the game in October), that’s their business. 
“I will work on how Arsenal will look but we see a Lyon team that has had a lot of strong performances. 
“From a goal-scoring opportunities perspective, they were the better team against PSG even if they ended up losing. 
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“We know they are an excellent opponent that we need to have massive respect for.”
Arsenal, who face Swiss side Zurich next Wednesday, could enter the knockout rounds of this term’s contest if they avoid defeat by four goals or more tonight. 
The Gunners are currently top of Group A having gone unbeaten after four game at this stage with three wins and one draw. 
Eidevall added: “We know that we can achieve qualification and that’s huge for us. 
“We’re going to do our very best to try and achieve that.
“Lyon have been setting the standards for all others to chase and they are the reigning European champions.
“We have the utmost respect for their history and their team. 
This evening’s fixture will see former Gunner Danielle van de Donk go up against her old side at the Emirates.
The Netherlands star, 31, helped Arsenal to win their last WSL title back in 2019
Lyon hope to avenge the 5-1 loss they endured at home to the Gunners in OctoberCredit: Getty
The forward who, netting 11 goals in 19 league appearances during the 2018-19 season, is eager to see Lyon return to winning ways.
Van de Donk told reporters: “We want those three points. We’re very motivated.”

“I think it’s going to be a good match, with a great level, great intensity.”
Arsenal vs Lyon in the Women’s Champion League will be aired live at 8:00 pm tonight (15 December) on DAZN’s YouTube channel. More

EMMA HAYES says ‘bumps in the road’ are to be expected after Chelsea shared the spoils of a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid. Christmas looked to have come early for the Spanish side in the Champions League group stage clash after Caroline Weir pounced on a clearance error.
Caroline Weir gave Real Madrid a first-half lead in their second group stage duel with Chelsea –Credit: Reuters
A Madrid own goal after Guro Reiten’s spot-kick saw the WSL champions secure a drawCredit: Getty
But Guro Reiten’s spot-kick saw Hayes’ aces maintain their unbeaten group phase run before their clash with Reading in the WSL this Sunday. 
Prior to their Madrid visit Chelsea have been in clinical winning form in Europe keeping six clean sheets in their last seven European games.
The clash at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium saw them concede for the first time in Group A following their 2-0 home defeat of their opponents last time out. 
Hayes said: “Technically, I’ve never seen us give the ball away so cheaply. All parts of our play in-possession struggled. 
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“That’s something we’ll work at. We’ve been playing really well, so we’re disappointed.
“It’s the first time in a while we’ve conceded such a poor goal.
“Credit to the team for the way they responded. Everybody raised their levels.”
Chelsea have notched up ten points from the four group stage games they have played to date with the club currently top of the table.
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On qualification for the knockout phase remaining in their hands, Hayes added: “We’re in a good place and we know this is a tough group. 
“We have to respect that we’re coming to Madrid, we’re away from home and this is a big pitch. 
“They are an improving team who drew with Paris Saint-Germain and beat Manchester City and we have to pay respect to them. 
“I thought it was a good game and probably a draw was a fair result.”
The Blues came close to netting in the opening five minutes with Sam Kerr cracking the crossbar after a Reiten corner and hitting the post later on. 
But Weir ensured the hosts took a first-half lead against her old WSL foes as the Spanish side began to put pressure on their opponents. 
Ann-Katrin Berger’s clearance paved the way for the forward to stroke the ball home in the 36th-minute bagging her first goal against the Blues in a Madrid shirt. 
However Ivana Andres’ clumsy challenge on Reiten saw the visitors get back on level terms in the second period through a penalty
And they did so after Madrid goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez scored an own goal after pushing Reiten’s spot-kick off the post into the net.
At the other end Berger pulled off a classy close range stop to deny Olga Carmona a goal in the 79th minute before Weir sent a long range effort over the bar. 
And Rodriguez pulled off a stunning stop parrying Kerr’s thumped shot out of danger with both sides sharing the spoils. 
Emma Hayes’ side take on Reading before their Champions League game against VllazniaCredit: Getty
Chelsea’s Thursday night draw saw them open up a three-point gap on Paris Saint-Germain at the top of their group before their December 16 clash with Vllaznia. 
A win against the Albanian side will see the Blues reach the knockout stage ahead of their December 23 duel with PSG – their last game in the group stage. 
Before then the WSL leaders face Reading at Kingsmeadow with the aim of picking up a tenth win in the top tier this term.
The match comes in a week that saw Hayes and her assistant Denise Reddy win November’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League Manager of the Month prize. 
The Chelsea boss said: “It’s a tight turnaround so we have got to rest really quickly with Friday off then back in on Saturday and playing again on Sunday, but we’re used to doing it.
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“It doesn’t make it easier but I always think playing away from home on a Thursday and then playing at home on Sunday at least makes it a little more palatable. 
“But we’ve got the experience of doing that and I think everybody in the squad trains at a really good level that we have such great players that we can cope with this type of game.” More

LINETH BEERENSTEYN has come a long way since her playing days at ADO Den Haag where her talent was spotted at 15 by the Dutch club’s former boss Sarina Wiegman. The striker, 26, who helped the Netherlands to Euros glory in 2017, is enjoying life at Juventus who play Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Lineth Beerensteyn has a made swift impact since her June move to Juventus netting four goals in eight Serie A games this termCredit: Getty
Arsenal’s clash with Juve will see Beerensteyn go up against her Netherlands team-mate Vivianne MiedemaCredit: Alamy
The clash at the Emirates will see Joe Montemurro attempt to guide his Juve stars to victory against the team he led to a WSL title in 2019. 
It will be the first time the Juventus head coach, whose players reached the Champions League quarter-finals last term, takes on his old club in North London since his June 2021 appointment.
Beerensteyn, who scored in the club’s 1-1 draw with the Gunners in November said: “Last season Juventus showed the whole world what they can do in the Champions League. 
“They were also in a tough group then with Wolfsburg and Chelsea and at the end they went through and Chelsea went out. 
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“This season it’s the same again with three really big clubs in the same group – Lyon, Arsenal and us. 
“Anything can happen in this group. It’s still open and that’s also interesting, because you know that with every game you have to be at your very best.
“In the Champions League you want to play the best games and the best teams. The tournament is special.
“If you can play every game against big clubs, that, for me, is the best feeling you can have.”
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Beerensteyn has made a strong and swift impression on and off the pitch since signing for the Serie A champs in June after a five-year spell at Bayern Munich.
The Netherlands striker – who charmed her team-mates with a pop song medley during an club initiation ceremony – has netted five goals in 10 Serie A and Champions League games this term. 
The Hague-born forward, who performed Beyonce’s Halo alongside Sara Gunnarsdottir, describes her move as the “perfect match” for herself and the five-time Italian top tier champions. 
Beerensteyn added: “It was like a strong, family feeling when I came in.
“After the Euros when I came here it felt like coming home. The club, my team-mates, the coaches, everyone was so nice. 
“Joe is a great coach and, for me, this was a good point to start a new journey after five years at Bayern Munich.
“He knows how to lead a big club and to reach a lot of things.  
“The club wants to achieve a lot of things in the upcoming years and that for me is a big start to show what I can bring to this team.”
Among the present and past Gunners stars coached by Montemurro during his four-year Arsenal reign are Dutch aces Vivianne Miedema, Jill Roord and Danielle van de Donk.
Van de Donk, who now plays for Lyon and compatriot Miedema were part of the Arsenal squad that won the Women’s Super League title in 2019. 
Joe Montemurro is aiming to steer Juventus to their second win in Group D in this term’s Champions LeagueCredit: Getty
When asked if she picked their brains on their experiences under Montemurro, Beerensteyn said: “They all said he’s a great coach.
“Joe was direct about what he expects from me.
“That’s also what I expect for myself because I know what I can bring with my strengths and with my qualities. 
“For me it was like a perfect match because I had this target and he had the same targets for me and that’s why it felt like a good (move).”
One coach who has had a significant impact on Beerensteyn’s journey as a player is Lionesses chief Sarina Wiegman. 
In 2012 Wiegman, the two-time Euros-winning head coach, was in the fifth year of a seven-season spell managing ADO Den Haag.
You can see now with Sarina (Wiegman) managing England that what she did with us wasn’t a one-off.Lineth Beerensteyn
That year she led the team, whose players then included Beerensteyn, to a Dutch Cup and top-flight title win. 
And the Juventus forward credits Wiegman with giving her the break in a career that would also see her play for FC Twente and Bayern Munich before joining Juve this summer. 
During Wiegman’s five-year reign as Netherlands head coach Beerensteyn was part of the squad that won their first Euros crown in 2017 and reached the World Cup final two years later. 
The Holland forward, who has made 86 senior appearances for her country, said: “Sarina was a big influence for me personally because she was my first coach at ADO Den Haag.
“I was 15 and she gave me that chance. 
“After that she was my coach on the national team and step by step she saw me growing. She had a huge impact on my career. 
“It’s sad that she left us (the Netherlands), but you can see, now that Sarina is managing England, that what she did with us wasn’t a one-off.
“She is reaching it again with a different team, in a different country and with a different language. 
“I have huge respect for her because she is a really good coach and person.”
Beerensteyn was part of the Netherlands team that won the Euros in 2017Credit: Getty
Under new head coach Andries Jonker the Netherlands will be one of 32 sides competing in next year’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. 
In 2019 Beerensteyn and her team-mates reached the final where they lost to tournament winners USA. 
On the chances of her side going one better at next year’s tournament, Beerensteyn added: “First of all, we want to pass the group stage. That’s the first step and very important. 
“With our quality, it doesn’t matter who is playing because we have such a strong group and if we show that, I think we can do something special.”
This weekend Holland’s men’s stars take on Argentina in a bid to reach their World Cup semis and set up a duel with Brazil or Croatia. 
Juventus will take on Serie A leaders Roma on Sunday with Montemurro’s side currently six points behind their title rivalsCredit: Getty
Beerensteyn added: “It will not be an easy game but they showed against the USA (who they beat 3-1) what they can do.
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“I think they will show this against Argentina and if they can be smart against (Lionel) Messi, they can win.”
*Arsenal’s Women’s Champions League game against Juventus will be aired live on DAZN’s channel on YouTube at 8pm on Wednesday night. More

VIVIANNE MIEDEMA hopes coaches will encourage their players to take breaks following her time away from match action in November. And the WSL’s all-time top scorer urged Fifa and Uefa to listen to player welfare concerns with a number of top pros sidelined by injuries this term. 
Vivianne Miedema says she has come back ‘physically a lot fitter’ following her short break in NovemberCredit: Getty
The Arsenal star netted for the Gunners against Juventus and Everton following her return to actionCredit: Getty
Miedema, 26, who made 30 Gunners appearances last season and played nine international games for her country this year, was absent from Arsenal’s defeat and two Netherlands fixtures. 
And the Gunners ace believes her short stint away months after getting Covid during the Euros has seen her return ‘physically a lot fitter’.
Miedema, who with her team will play Juventus in the Champions League at the Emirates on Wednesday said: “I think a lot of people probably thought my time off would just mean me going on a holiday and not training, and just getting away from football. 
“But I’ve actually used some time off, going to the other side of the world, but still training every day. 
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“I’ve not had a pre-season after I had Covid this summer, so I used that period of time to actually get myself fit and that’s the biggest difference I feel on the pitch right now.
“I feel physically a lot fitter, I think you can see that in the games, and I think by being physically fit, then the game becomes easy for me again. 
“You’ve seen that over the last two games and I hope I can at least hold that in the next four games, until Christmas.”
Miedema is among a number of influential WSL figures who have flagged concerns regarding the physical demands on players in recent seasons due to a busy domestic and international schedule. 
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Last month the striker used her column in Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad to call on football’s authorities to consider the “physical strain” on players amid a spate of injuries to WSL aces.
Beth Mead, Lina Hurtig and Gunners’ skipper Kim Little are among her club mates contending with injuries. 
Miedema’s call came weeks after she was granted time off to ‘rest and recharge’. 
And the player scored against Juve in the Champions League on November 24 after returning to action five days earlier during Arsenal’s 3-2 loss to Manchester United.
Leah Williamson made her return to action for Arsenal in the WSL ahead of their second Champions League group stage duel with JuventusCredit: Getty
When asked if players should feel free to ask for time off, Miedema said: “It’s something that a lot of younger players, and even also the older ones, would probably not ask for themselves. 
“I think coaches on national teams and club football, need to be a bit more aware of it as well and sometimes probably instigate it themselves 
“But I hope that by me taking the time off, it will have done good for a couple of players, that they are feeling confident enough to actually ask for that break and don’t feel ashamed for needing it
“As I’ve said so many times before, it’s been so non-stop over the last couple of years that, at one point, you just need to switch off. 
“For some people that might mean two weeks, for other people that might mean longer.
“I just hope that they feel confident enough to ask for that time off.”
When asked what action she would like to see on player welfare and busy fixture schedules, Miedema added: “It’s quite a hard one because in the end, as a player, you want to be playing in the big tournament, you want to play at a Euros, you want to play in a World Cup.
“The biggest difference when it comes to international football with us is that we’ve got more windows within the season than the men have. 
“We also played the Olympics with a-teams instead of the Under-23s and that’s definitely something that Fifa, Fifpro and Uefa need to start looking at. 
Joe Montemurro is aiming to lead his Juve aces to victory against his former club in the Champions LeagueCredit: Getty
“If we want to make the calendars similar, then don’t let us have six FIFA (international) windows when the men only have four or five per year.
“I think that also comes back to us (in women’s football) not having the same amount of numbers within our squad.”
Arsenal’s clash with Juve, who are coached by former Gunners boss Joe Montemurro, could see defenders Leah Williamson and Rafaelle Souza back in European action. 
The duo could be set to make their first Champions appearance since the Gunners defeat of Ajax away in September. 
Reflecting on their return Miedema added: “We’ve missed their qualities on the pitch.
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“But I think as a team, and especially when you have many injuries, you stick together. You try and help each other out.
“Then the moment the players are coming back, it just lifts the whole atmosphere in the team, with the girls being back on the pitch. You’re happy about that.” More