Women

UWCL quarter-finals: She-Wolves prepared for “very intense game”

There will be an emotional reunion when VfL Women meet Barcelona in their quarter-final first leg at the Volkswagen Arena on Wednesday.

Reigning UEFA Women’s Champions League holders FC Barcelona have arrived in Wolfsburg after landing at Braunschweig airport on Tuesday afternoon. They held their final training session at the Volkswagen Arena in the evening ahead of the first leg of their quarter-final against VfL Wolfsburg Women on Wednesday 19 March (kick-off 18:45 CET).

At the pre-match press conference, head coach Tommy Stroot gave his thoughts on...

…personnel: “Camilla Küver and Kristin Demann will miss out, and as things stand Kathy Hendrich will miss both legs. Merle Frohms is gradually getting up to speed in training, which means that Nelly Smolarczyk will have a new role in a Champions League squad.”

…the opposition: “I’ve been lucky enough to face Barça several times. Anyone who knows them knows that it’s always a huge challenge to play against them. What sets them apart is their tiki-taka style with lots of possession and aggression in attack. So on the one hand we’ll need to defend against that, while on the other we want to find certain spaces. We’ll have to work well against the ball, we’ll need to be patient and always maintain our aggression so that we can regain possession at the right time. The key will be finding the right balance between defence and attack.”

…Ewa Pajor: “Ewa’s always good at surprising you. We’re well aware of her quality here in Wolfsburg and are really looking forward to seeing her again. We were in touch briefly after the draw was made. Having said all that, we know that our job tomorrow is to hurt her.”

…his expectations of the first leg at home: “I don’t think any team believes they can decide a quarter-final in the first leg. It’ll be decided over 180 minutes or more. There will be different periods in which both teams will be more tactical. We’re well prepared for a very intense game. We know how strong we are at home and we’re looking forward to playing in front of our own fans.”