Renée Slegers revealed what she told her Arsenal players during half time of their [UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid](https://fromthespot.co.uk/17747/arsenal-3-0-real-madrid-3-2-agg-gunners-to-face-lyon-in-uwcl-semi-finals-after-sensational-comeback-win/) on Wednesday.
The _Gunners_ trailed by two goals from the first leg and had failed to break the deadlock in the first half at Emirates Stadium, despite dominating the possession and creating countless chances from wide areas.
But the goals came almost instantly after the players returned from the interval. Within three minutes and 31 seconds, Slegers’ side had restored aggregate parity through goals from Alessia Russo and Mariona Caldentey.
Speaking about her half-time team talk, the 36-year-old explained: _“We have such a great squad. We have so many players that can come in and make a difference for us. Real Madrid don’t, so we just keep on going and keep on working them, because they’ll get tired at some point.”_
The former Dutch international added that prior to the game, _“we spoke about it before with staff and players that we need to be calm, whatever the scenario.”_
_“It was 0-0, but we felt we were dominant and it was just about finding the details in the right things,”_ she continued, emphasising that there was _“a very good atmosphere”_ in the dressing room.
Last week’s defeat at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano left Arsenal on the brink of dropping out of the UWCL, which would also see the _Gunners_ wave goodbye to their last realistic chance of silverware this season.
Slegers told reporters in her post-match press conference on Wednesday that cup victories like this one against Real Madrid are _“important for the club, for the team and for the players.”_
_“They’re part of Arsenal because they want to go far in tournaments, they want to win things and be on the biggest stages.”_
Arsenal’s reward for an impressive comeback in N5 is a semi-final meeting with Olympique Lyonnais, set to be played over two legs on 19/20 and 26/27 April.