THE LOWDOWN
Arsenal play Real Madrid at Meadow Park on Wednesday evening in the Champions League in a must win game after their capitulation away at Bayern Munich last week. That result puts Arsenal 11th in the league phase table, just about in the qualification spots for the round of 16 but failure to win would put qualification even for the extra knockout round in jeopardy.
Their chances of finishing in the top four and immediately qualifying for the quarter-finals are all but over. After facing Madrid, the Gunners play Twente at home and Leuven away, which really ought to yield six points. Madrid are also rivals to Arsenal in their area of the standings. Long story short, it’s a big game!
The match takes place at Meadow Park as all UWCL group games have, this is largely down to quite low crowds for midweek games at the Emirates (this game has yet to sell Meadow Park out as it is). Meadow Park does provide a more intimate atmosphere for the home support and we saw last season the impact of an engaged home support on a match against Real Madrid.
There is also no doubting that Arsenal are in a funk and players are low on confidence. At Spurs on Sunday, they only managed two shots after the 70th minute with the final attempt coming on 81 minutes. Shoulders are a little slumped right now but a rousing win against Real Madrid would, hopefully, send the players into a weekend off followed by an international break in better spirits.
TEAM NEWS
Leah Williamson is training with the team again after a knee injury but Renee Slegers says the Madrid game still comes too early for her. Kim Little is still out, while Manu Zinsberger and Katie Reid (both ACL) are out. Daphne van Domselaar has been omitted from the Netherlands squad on fitness grounds due to an ongoing knee injury but she will be in the squad for this game.
Available squad
Goalkeepers: 14.van Domselaar 28.Borbe 53.Liddiard
Defenders: 2.Fox 3.Wubben-Moy 5.L.Codina 7.Catley 11.McCabe 22.Nighswonger 24.Hinds 44.Harwood
Midfielders: 8.Mariona 10.Little(c) 12.L.Maanum 21.Pelova 32.Cooney-Cross 43.Peacock
Forwards: 9.Mead 15.Smith 18.Kelly 19.Foord 23.Russo 25.Blackstenius
A WORD FROM THE BOSS
‘I think their games might be a little bit more open this year, so that’s something that we have to prepare for and something we want to organise in a good way. You see that their key players play in a little bit different roles this year compared to last year, so that’s also something to look out for. Otherwise, you see a lot of similar structures and similar players on the pitch compared to last year.
‘If you look at our goal-kick situations last year, we’ve taken a lot of references from the game at the Emirates. You see them going high in player for player on those situations as well, so we are absolutely expecting that. I think they do that for longer and with a lot of conviction.
‘I think they maybe, earlier last year, they decided to drop into more of a mid-block. But yeah, I haven’t spoken to the coach. I don’t know what their plan is for tomorrow. But yeah, I see a difference from last year, so that’s, I think, also why the game becomes a little bit more open.’
LAST TIME OUT
When the teams met in last season’s UWCL quarter-finals, Real Madrid took the first leg 2-0 with goals from Linda Caicedo and Athenea del Castillo. Arsenal turned it round in the second leg with a 3-0 win with second half brace from Alessia Russo and a goal from Mariona Caldentey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1w3v27rEh0
THE OPPOSITION
33-year-old coach Pau Quaseda took over the reins in the summer on a two-year contract after the departure of Alberto Toril. Last season, Madrid sat deep against Arsenal and looked to hit them on the break and with transitional threats like Caicedo and Naomie Feller it is not difficult to see why.
Both their goals in the first leg came on the counter but in the second leg, they were far too tepid and collapsed into a low block and sought only to defend their lead. Under Quaseda, who spent time in Madrid’s academy as a player, they are less likely to do this. Though they lost 4-0 to Barca on Saturday, they played a high defensive line and pressed player for player.
Madrid have been (distant) runners-up to Barcelona in Liga F for each of the last four seasons and still await their first silverware since their formation in 2020. They currently boast top talents like Linda Caicedo, Caroline Weir and Sara Dabritz. I would recommend this piece on the Cutback by highly regarded women’s football analyst Yash for further insight.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Kyra Cooney-Cross impressed as more of a lone number six in Sunday’s North London derby, there have been questions about her defensive awareness but playing as a lone pivot in a game where Spurs only muster 0.13XG is a big boon for the Australian. Arseblog News asked Renee Slegers in her pre-match press conference whether there had been a shift in how Arsenal’s midfield set up against Spurs.
‘Kyra got a clear role going into the game, so she was going to play close to the back line. And I think with Mariona in midfield, she has the freedom to find spaces. So that’s the balance we wanted to create with four players behind the ball as much as possible. So yeah, but she did well in that role.’
Cooney-Cross is a big space player who, for my money, looks better defending bigger spaces where she has to run to douse fires, than she does in a double pivot where roles and responsibilities can be less clear. I would certainly expect her to keep her place in midfield for this game and build on a strong showing on Sunday.
MY PREDICTED LINE-UP
Subs: 5.L.Codina 9.Mead 11.McCabe 12.L.Maanum 18.Kelly 21.Pelova 22.Nighswonger 28.Borbe 43.Peacock 44.Harwood 53.Liddiard
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME
The game kicks off at 8pm on Wednesday at Meadow Park and will be shown live on Disney+ in the UK. Full details on where to watch around the world are available here.
COMING UP
We’ll have Aidan Gibson’s on the whistle match report on the site at full-time, as well as full quotes from Renee Slegers’ post-match press conference around an hour after the final whistle. Jamie and I will record a mailbag podcast during the international break and I will probably write a tactical analysis piece on this game given that I couldn’t find the time to do one on the Spurs game!
