A hard-fought 3-1 victory over OH Leuven at Meadow Park sent Arsenal through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The visitors tested Renée Slegers’ side when Sara Pusztai cancelled out Alessia Russo’s goal but a penalty from Mariona Caldentey and second from Russo secured the win, earning them a comfortable 7-1 aggregate score.
Confidence is flying high around Arsenal, they are almost at the end of one of the most taxing periods of the season to date. Since the return from the winter break, they have won seven of their nine fixtures and lost just one, featured in five different competitions, lifted the inaugural Champions Cup and now reached the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League. It has been a month that will have tested every single one of the playing squad and staff to their limits but one that will have given them belief that they can still challenge on multiple fronts.
This last month, including this playoff encounter with OH Leuven, will have taught Slegers and her players a lot about themselves. They have played brilliantly at times and proven their mettle at others; sometimes accused of not having the stomach for a fight, they have shown that they are capable of digging in when the going gets tough and finding ways to win. Slegers was keen to praise her team’s resilience ahead of this encounter, after a five-week stretch that has seen them have to handle a game every three or four days, adapt to rotation in the squad and deal with the contrasting styles of football that their opponents brought to the table.
