_Arsenal qualified for the Champions League semi-final after losing 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge but winning eh tie 3-2 on aggregate. Renee Slegers spoke to the press post-match. The fourth and fifth questions are from Arseblog News._
**On hers and the team’s emotions…**
Yeah Tim just told me he only just stopped shaking. It’s an unbelievable performance from the team because it’s a hard scenario, two goals up and you go to Stamford Bridge and so far this season we’ve played 3 games against Chelsea that have been very, very tight. It’s been about small margins. And then showing this, as a team, to do things together like this, being so disciplined in our defending, the mentality that we show, that we’re calm, and the things we wanted to do, we bring them onto the pitch. I am just really proud and of course, very, very happy that we’re through to the semis.
**On Katie McCabe’s hair pull on Alyssa Thompson and Bompastor saying it was deliberate…**
I’ve seen the incident back. I don’t think it’s deliberate. I think she tries to pull the shirt. Alyssa Thompson is very fast. I think Katie is very competitive. She wants to win. You see that and the way she plays. But for me, she always plays fair. She would never do anything deliberately bad with bad intentions. I haven’t spoken to Katie yet, so I can’t comment on how she would comment on this situation.
**On Alyssa Thompson crying after the incident…**
I didn’t know that and I’m sorry to hear. I think hopefully that can be solved internally and there’s a good conversation and utmost apologies if something happened that wasn’t meant to happen.
**On the team having to suffer tonight and her consistent use of that word this season…**
Just to clarify, suffer for something you love! Of course. So not just suffering for the suffering. Because you’re passionate about it and then if you want to achieve something that you’re passionate about, you have to be willing to suffer on the way. And I think that’s what the team did really, really well today. They were prepared for it. They were prepared for a very difficult scenario for momentum shifts. The first 15 minutes, potentially end of game, I think, would change again. And they just stayed in the game, in the controlled middle as we call it. They were constantly in control, whatever scenario or momentum. And they did their job together. And also together with the fans because they were an important factor for us tonight being so loud and it was all right in the corner.
**On selecting van Domselaar and her performance…**
Very impressed. We know how good she is. We’re really happy that she’s fit again, and if you see the ability that she has, the athleticism, the reactions, she can reach corners of the goal so quickly. So she’s she’s really good and we’re so happy to have her back fit, but I think her biggest challenge for tonight was the mental side of not really being in the rhythm of playing. You go in, you step in, and you go to Stamford Bridge with this scenario and you have to perform knowing that that’s going to be chance for Chelsea, that’s going to be chances for us, but the way she did it, it’s incredible. So it shows so much mental strength.
**On Arsenal getting comfortable on the European stage…**
Playing a game is never comfortable! I think we’ve built some experience and me personally as a coach. I think the team from the experiences that we had last year, but also the years before, playing against really good teams in knockout stages, with different scenarios, planning for that, executing, being calm on the pitch, knowing how to how to play a game like that. I think that’s experience that we have as a team. And where the team is at and how they’re doing things together, how they invest so much, out of every single day, earn the right to be an Arsenal player their humility and everything. That’s why I’m so happy that they get this now and they work so hard and they deserve it- to get to the semifinal of the Champions League, because it’s a dream for every player.
**On the sense that Arsenal are building something…**
I’m so pleased to be working for this club and and with these fantastic players. So yes, it is special. It is special for me personally, if you ask me, it is special, and I think everyone feels this way about what we’re doing at the moment, and going back to the comfortable and uncomfortable, we can never get comfortable in this, even though we have to enjoy this. where we are at, but we have to keep on striving for more and better.
**On Lotte Wubben-Moy’s performances of late…**
There is resilience in the team, so how do we respond to setbacks, hard times? What do we do in those moments? And I think that the team is so good at the moment. Lotte’s been such a constant factor for us in the back line. We knew that we have so much quality in the squad. Your partnerships on the pitch are going to change. That’s how we’re gonna do it this season and especially from January onwards. And I think that’s really been happening around Lotte because right back changes, left centre back changes. We start the game a certain way. We finish a game a certain way. She’s played a lot of minutes and I think it says everything about how consistent she is as a player and how she, in this consistency, how she can lead others and connect with others. She is very communicative. She connects well with everyone, understands the game really well, prepares really well. She’s another player like everybody else, but if you look at everything she’s putting in, I’m so pleased and so well deserved.
**On Steph Catley’s injury…**
She said she felt something in her calf, it doesn’t seem too bad but we will see in the next couple of days.
**On Chelsea creating a lot across the two legs…**
When we say in control, it’s mentally in control. So how do we respond to difficult moments? But also being really clear on different phases of play, both in and out of possession, what does success look like for us in this game? Of course, we wanted to stop them from getting chances and in an ideal world, there’s no shots. But it’s two really good teams against going against each other. Of course, like I just said, we are very humble and that’s why the group is so good at the moment. We’re gonna look at this, we’re gonna reflect, and how can we become even better in certain moments? But I think both teams created a couple of really big chances.
14.van Domselaar; 2.Fox (31.holmberg ‘68), 3.Wubben-Moy, 7.Catley (24.Hinds ‘44), 11.McCabe; 10.Little(c), 8.Mariona (5.L.Codina ‘83); 15.Smith (9.Mead ‘68), 23.Russo, 19.Foord; 25.Blackstenius (12.L.Maanum ‘83)
Unused: 13.Votikova 18.Kelly 21.Pelova 28.Borbe