**Childhood Arsenal fan Leah Williamson is prepared to take to the challenge ahead of a must-win second leg fixture against Real Madrid in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.**
The Gunners must now rectify the 2-0 deficit suffered last week at Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano, something Williamson described as “a wasted opportunity”.
“I think there was a general feeling that we wasted this potential opportunity,” Williamson said. “Two teams playing on the same pitch, the pitch wasn’t the standard that it needed to be, but we both played on it. I think that anger is more frustration with ourselves, because we know what we can do. We know we have more, and that’s frightening for other teams because I think in that game, we were still competitive. We just need to score goals, and that’s what it comes down to, and we need to stop them.”
“We were frustrated, but more so with ourselves than anything else. If we played a perfect game last weekend, and we got beat by a perfect game from the other team, that can sometimes be football. But that wasn’t the case, so it’s about us taking individual responsibility first and foremost, and making sure that everybody stays present in that.”
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The big stage ‘isn’t foreign’ to Arsenal
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Arsenal are not out of the race just yet, as the side return to Emirates Stadium to face Real Madrid in the second leg of the quarterfinal race on Wednesday.
“I think everyone has a role to play in it,” Williamson analysed. “The leaders of the team stepped up in that way, which I think we have a lot of. I think people have stepped up in different ways over the last couple of weeks, and I think the results over recent times that we have scored goals in quick succession, turning games around, does give us a lot of confidence. So it’s about keeping everyone calm, staying on the job and just doing what we can do.”
Arsenal have been in a familiar position before, having come from a 1-0 deficit against Bayern Munich to qualify for the Champions League semi finals in the 2023/24 season. Williamson expressed her belief that the side will be able to take some key learnings from that victory into the challenge on Wednesday evening.
“We’re very lucky here in terms of that stage tomorrow night isn’t foreign to us. Being a part of Arsenal means that you play in front of big crowds, you’re competing always with every team,” she said.
“I’ll play my role, I’ll play my part. I think the experience of overturning the last quarter final against Bayern, I think that comes in handy for anybody that played in that game. That was a great memory. Good things happen in football, bad things happen in football. When the good things happen, you keep them in your pocketed just as much as the bad, you call on them when you need them.
“So, I think anybody that was involved in that game will take confidence from that, knowing that we know how to do it in almost an identical situation,” Williamson added.
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Problem solving Arsenal are up for the challenge
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Arsenal have made a habit out of overcoming deficits, the most recent being a 4-3 victory over West Ham United in the Women’s Super League. The side were also able to turn around a 1-0 away leg result against BK Häcken into an emphatic home victory in the Champions League qualifiers earlier in the season.
When asked by _The Halfway Line_ how she believes Arsenal are able to find the intensity and motivation to respond during times of adversity, Williamson frankly responded “Firstly, you don’t want to end up in that situation.”
“I think generally it comes from frustration of when you know what you can do, and when you end up in a situation where there’s a deficit or you’re trailing them again, it feels like we look at ourselves first and I do think that is the case.
“It can be very different. If you play all out, go to Wolfsburg in the second leg, we have however many players on the bench with those different experiences and you give everything but it’s just not enough, that’s different. But when you’re underperforming, then you look inwards first.
“The team is very good at doing that, problem solving, talking to each other, staying together, and the product of that recently has been great. Which is good, but it’s something that you have to constantly work on. Some of that is on the pitch that you can’t take for granted, and the theme that we have running through the group is that there is no days off.
“You can’t work at full intensity every day because you have to manage training sessions etc. But being present, being impactful with what you say, your actions towards your teammates, I don’t think we have days off when it comes to those things. Or at least we try not to, which I think feeds into that strength.”