WOMAN
10/12/2021

Champions League in London: "Intense and fast-paced"

Matchday 2 in the UEFA Women's Champions League is fast approaching! TSG will be away to English league leaders Arsenal on Thursday (21:00 CET). Head coach Gabor Gallai is looking forward to a fast-paced encounter. The game will be shown live on DAZN and YouTube.

Head coach Gabor Gallai on…

…the 3-1 defeat away to FC Bayern.

"More chances created, more challenges won and slightly more possession: the statistics show that FC Bayern were better in many respects and therefore deserved to win in the end. Nonetheless, we still very much had the chance to come away with a point. We kept the game open for a long time and you always had the feeling that there might still be something in it for us. As a result, it made for an entertaining match for the spectators. What was also important was the fact we at least rewarded ourselves with a goal."

…the mood in the camp before the trip to London.

"Despite the defeat in Munich, we want to travel to London with self-belief because we made a strong start to our Champions League campaign against Køge. It's going to be another brilliant adventure for us; we're delighted that we're able to test ourselves against teams like the English league leaders in this competition. The Champions League is simply something special."

…the expectations ahead of the second group game in the Champions League.

"Arsenal play with a certain degree of aggression off the ball, are quick to apply pressure and try to disrupt your positional play. Our opponents will try to play towards our goal with quick attacks; we're expecting a very intense and fast-paced match. In London, we will have to improve upon the very things that didn't go so well in the game against FC Bayern Munich. The goal is to show greater resistance in pressing situations and more aggression in the challenges. It will also be important to think quickly; there were many situations in Munich where we lacked mental freshness, which meant that our opponents won many 50-50 balls. We'll try to play with a lot of players in the opposition half and use that to create chances."

…the personnel.

"All the players will be available to play in the second group game except for Paulina Krumbiegel and Isabella Hartig."

Opposition spotlight:

Arsenal occupy pole position in the FA Women's Super League with five matches played, having not dropped a point all season and having beaten Champions League finalists Chelsea 3-2 in their opening game. Last weekend coach Jonas Eidevall's side ran out 3-0 victors against Everton, scoring their 17th, 18th and 19th goals of the campaign in the process. Arsenal also came through both Champions League qualifying rounds which the third-placed club from England must navigate to reach the group stages, just like TSG did without any problems. The Gunners first recorded wins against Okzhetpes (4-0) and PSV Eindhoven (3-1), before beating Slavia Prague twice in the play-off round (3-0 and 4-0) to book their spot in the group stages of the UEFA Women's Champions League.

Arsenal would have certainly envisaged their start to Group C going differently, though: the English league leaders lost 4-1 (2-0) to the holders Barcelona. The 2007 Champions League winners are therefore in need of their first points of the campaign against TSG. Their squad, which is brimming with top-quality internationals from all over the world, even includes an ex-Hoffenheim player in Mana Iwabuchi, who arrived in the Kraichgau in 2013 and helped TSG gain promotion to the Bundesliga, before joining Bayern Munich ahead of the 2014/15 season.

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