Women

Courage and self-belief required

Alexandra Popp and Tommy Stroot preview the quarter-final return leg against FC Barcelona.

VfL Wolfsburg take on FC Barcelona in the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Estadi Johan Cruyff this evening, kicking off at 18:45 CET. After losing 4-1 in the first leg, the She-Wolves are determined to “show a different face” against the competition holders.

Before the game, head coach Tommy Stroot answered questions on…

…personnel: “Merle Frohms and Kathy Hendrich are out. There’s positive news regarding Marina Hegering, who has travelled to Barcelona with us and is available for selection.”

…aims for the return leg: “We want to show more of ourselves. We want to defend aggressively, but above all we want to be better in one-on-one duels and make smart decisions. We want to make the most of our periods with the ball. Barcelona had 75 per cent of possession in the first leg – that’s far too much. We need to bring that figure down by making good decisions with the ball and forcing our opponents into situations where they need to defend. That will help us because that’s not their players’ strength.”

Die Pressekonferenz vor dem Heimspiel gegen Essen mit Alexandra Popp und Tommy Stroot.

Captain Alexandra Popp, meanwhile, spoke about…

…the first-leg result: “We were obviously disappointed for a day or two after the game, because that just wasn’t the way we want to play our football. That’s why the defeat was a painful one, but we’ve since been working very hard to show more courage, self-belief and the quality we’re capable of producing on the pitch. Our aim is to show a different face.”

…the She-Wolves’ mindset: “We’re being very realistic, generally speaking, but we also know there have been plenty of results in football just like this – or even bigger deficits – that have somehow been turned around. We know a lot has to go in our favour. We have to have a great day on the pitch, and we also know Barcelona might shift down a gear or two. If we regarded the whole thing as a completely lost cause, there’d be no point in travelling here in the first place. That’s the team’s approach, and that’s a good thing. Anything else would not be VfL Wolfsburg.”