To Europe via Paris: As last season’s league runners-up, VfL Women must first go through the play-offs in order to qualify for the group stage proper of the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL). The She-Wolves will meet Paris FC in the first leg on Tuesday evening at the Stade Charlety in the French capital (kick-off 19:00 CEST). At his pre-match press conference, head coach Tommy Stroot spoke about…
…personnel: “Sveindis Jonsdottir, Tabea Sellner, Rebecka Blomqvist, Camilla Küver [all injured] will be absent. In addition, Merle Frohms suffered a concussion in our final training session and has stayed in Wolfsburg.”
…who will play in goal: “Once we knew that Frohms couldn’t play, it was clear that Lisa Schmitz would be in goal tomorrow. She made a good impression in pre-season and over the last few weeks, so we know that we’ve got a fantastic replacement.”
…the opposition: “We can’t underestimate the team that finished third in France. It’s something we experienced two years ago during qualifying against Bordeaux, and before that against Montpellier. They’re teams that have a lot of experience and quality – and Paris FC are no different. So we’ve prepared intensively to face this team.”
…his expectations of the game: “We believe that we have the quality to win the game. It’s an advantage for us that we’re already familiar with situations like this. After our games against Arsenal and PSG last season, we’ve built up a certain conviction that helps us to decide games like this.”
…the importance of reaching the group stage for VfL: “We envision ourselves in the group stage and in the rest of the competition. We know we can lay the foundations for that with the game against Paris FC, which is why we’ll do everything we can to progress to the group stage and create new unforgettable moments for ourselves and the fans.”
