Arsenal boss Renee Slegers stressed this year’s Women’s Champions League semi-final second leg meeting against Lyon is “different” to when the two teams met last season.
The Gunners claimed a 4-1 second-leg win away to the French outfit on that occasion, having lost 2-1 at home, and the north London side then went on to win the competition with a 1-0 triumph over Barcelona.
This year’s edition sees the two teams meet again at the same stage of the competition, but this time Arsenal hold the advantage going into the second leg after Christiane Endler’s own goal and Olivia Smith’s effort helped them come from behind to clinch a 2-1 win at the Emirates.
Olivia Smith was on the scoresheet for Arsenal
Olivia Smith was on the scoresheet for Arsenal(Andrew Matthews/PA)
Both teams had also met in the early stages of this year’s Champions League, with Arsenal falling to a 2-1 defeat in their first game of the league phase.
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However, with a spot in the final at stake going into Saturday’s contest, Slegers insisted the Gunners still have to “earn the right”.
She told a press conference: “It’s very simple, I think you can’t compare the two occasions. Everything is different this year, the scenario is different as well, last time we were 2-1 down, now we’re 2-1 up, so everything is different.
“We have to earn the right again from the very start, so I don’t compare the two occasions. Yes we’ve been to the city, yes I recognise this hall and the pitch, that will be there, but we have to start all over again tomorrow.”
Arsenal hold a 2-1 advantage going into Saturday’s game
Arsenal hold a 2-1 advantage going into Saturday’s game(Andrew Matthews/PA)
This weekend’s other semi-final tie sees Barcelona host Bayern Munich on Sunday.
They enter the second leg tied at 1-1 after Franziska Kett cancelled out Ewa Pajor’s opener, but Bayern finished with 10 players after their goalscorer was shown a red card with 11 minutes to play meaning she will be suspended for the return fixture.