**Jade Rose says Man City will ‘not prioritise one over the other’ in their pursuit both the WSL and Champions League.**
Coming off a remarkable domestic double-winning campaign, Canadian centre-back Jade Rose is preparing for her first UEFA Women’s Champions League season, something she has dreamed about since childhood.
Speaking to _The Halfway Line_ ahead of the new campaign, the 23-year-old believes City must adapt quickly to the demands of European football, with increased travel, more matches and different styles of play to navigate, but sees no reason why they cannot compete on all fronts.
“Why do we have to prioritise one competition over the other?” Rose said. “I think that there’s a lot of reflecting that I’ve done this summer, and we’re going to have to become that much more adaptable. I think that we’re really going to have to hone in on those little details that gave us that extra 1% last season.
“As much as there is change amongst the teams in the Women’s Super League (WSL), it’s still under this umbrella of English football. Now that we’re travelling and playing teams outside of the country, there’s different philosophies and styles of play that we’re going to have to get used to.”
Jade Rose ‘excited for the whole experience’ as Man City return to the Champions League
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City reached the Champions League quarter-finals the season before Rose joined the club. After defeating Chelsea 2-0 at the Joie Stadium in the first leg, they were beaten 3-0 at Stamford Bridge before finishing fourth in the league and missing out on European football the following season.
Three months after that defeat, the defender signed a four-year contract with City following her graduation from Harvard University. She went on to make 20 WSL appearances in her debut campaign, starting 19 matches and scoring once.
Going straight from college soccer to the WSL may sound like a fairytale, and for Rose, it has been just that. While she is thrilled by the prospect of testing herself against Europe’s elite, she is equally looking forward to seeing familiar faces on the opposite side.
“I’m excited for the whole experience,” the Canadian international added. “As a young girl, you hear about sides like Barcelona and Bayern Munich and you only dream of getting to play against them. I have a couple of international teammates across Europe that we’ve never had the opportunity to match up against, so that will be new for me.”
Rose could come up against several of her international teammates in Europe, including Paris FC forward Évelyne Viens, while a meeting with Bayern Munich would see her face fellow Canadian defender Vanessa Gilles.
Despite expectations being sky-high following last season’s domestic success, Rose insists she is keeping a level head heading into the new campaign.
“You can’t be too high and you can’t be too low,” she said. “You can’t ruminate over the wins and the losses. You have to take what you can learn from each and every moment.”
City will find out their European opponents when the Champions League league phase draw takes place on September 4, before kicking off their domestic title defence against WSL2 champions Birmingham City at the Joie Stadium on September 6 (2.30pm BST).