_Before every home game, Renée Slegers gives her thoughts around the team and our upcoming game in her manager's notes published in the matchday programme._
_Ahead of UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final play-off second leg, the head coach is grateful to the players, her staff and our loyal supporters for the momentum we carry into tonight's game._
We’re one step away from the last eight and need to maintain our momentum as we close out this block. Last week’s match was everything we wanted, setting us up in the best possible way for this decisive leg at home. Now we need to deliver.
I truly believe in our squad, and the way we’re playing at the moment is incredible to see. We all have a shared purpose, going after the same thing, and everyone is locked in on their individual goals, too. When everyone has strong clarity on their role within our unit and our high technical standards, the football comes easily.
There’s such a high level of commitment and humility in everything we do at the moment. Aaron has been working with our analysts and players from a defensive perspective and they’ve collaborated really well to develop a system of versatility, so we can handle unpredictability in opposition attacks. We’ve been rewarded for the way we’ve been playing by achieving so many clean sheets. It’s a collective effort to keep the opposition away from our goal, and we’ll continue to work hard at it. We carry all the shared experiences with us and we’re definitely in a better place than we were a year ago
I’ve been struck by our team’s bravery, particularly in these past few months. Together we’ve dealt with adversity and continued to take risks, and they’re really paying off. We’ve kept on believing, but we’ve also dared to make changes where necessary. In hard times it’s easier to step back instead of forward. We always step forward. If you look at what we’ve achieved across this block – confidently beating Chelsea and Manchester City, winning the FIFA Champions Cup against brand new opposition, and keeping the momentum in the UEFA Champions League – I’m really proud of them.
I’d like to wholeheartedly thank the fans who travelled to Leuven last week to support us – 800 people in the stands for an away game in Europe is incredible and you blew us away yet again. Even when we’d all left the pitch, you were still singing. I’m very proud that we delivered a performance and result deserving of that support.
I also want to say a special thank you to the supporters who travelled to our postponed game at Brighton on Sunday. We were as disappointed as you were that the game couldn’t go ahead. We were hoping to perform and of course score some goals for you – we will try to do the same tonight.
_Read more about the game, as well as a host of other fantastic content, by buying the Arsenal v OH Leuven programme either around the stadium or_ [_online_](https://programme.arsenal.com/product/arsenal-women-v-oh-leuven-wednesday-february-18)[_._](https://programme.arsenal.com/product/arsenal-v-manchester-city-sunday-september-21)
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