In the qualifying round for the inaugural UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage, VfL Wolfsburg Women host FC Girondins de Bordeaux – who finished third in the French top flight last season – on Wednesday 1 September (18:00 CEST). Ahead of the game, head coach Tommy Stroot shared his thoughts on…
…the opponents: “I’ve been following Bordeaux for a while now, before I knew we were playing them. It’s quite remarkable that they’ve overtaken Montpellier as the third-best team in France. That says a lot about the quality of the team. One of their main qualities on the pitch is clearly their strength in transition.”
…preparing for Bordeaux: “We’ve observed Bordeaux very closely and we attended their game against Kristianstads with one of our assistant coaches. We were therefore able to gain an impression of our opponents very early on.”
…personnel: “The condition of our injured players hasn’t changed since the Potsdam game. In the Champions League we have the opportunity to name a bigger squad, so this time we’ll have 20 players to choose from.”
…abolishing the away goals rule: “It obviously changes the approach. Of course we want to continue to show resilience on the pitch, as we did for long periods against Potsdam. I think it’s now an even bigger advantage to have the second leg at home, because the crowd can play a role. That isn’t the case for us here, which makes it even more important to lay a good foundation in order to make things a little easier for ourselves in Bordeaux.”
