Arsenal have kept alive their hopes of progressing to the Women’s Champions League final, despite a tough week of injury setbacks. The semi-final tie remains finely balanced after Arsenal came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Wolfsburg in Germany, showing resilience to cover up for a disjointed performance. This was due to England defender Leah Williamson being ruled out with a knee injury on Friday, just days after captain Kim Little was ruled out for the season. This added to a long list of injury concerns for manager Jonas Eidevall, who has already been without top scorers Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead this season, and forward Caitlin Foord in recent weeks. Despite Wolfsburg going 2-0 up in 24 minutes, Arsenal recovered to ensure the tie was not over as they return to London. Eidevall said: “We knew [it] was going to be difficult. Our mission when we came here was to get a result to take back to London and decide it there. We accomplished that but nothing more. Nothing is done but the tie is very much alive.” Arsenal striker Stina Blackstenius said it was “important” the Gunners stayed in the game and they took inspiration from their fightback against Bayern Munich in the quarter-final. She added: “It’s been a tough week for us, with another injury. That has made us even stronger and I feel like the mentality within the team has been really good.” Wolfsburg goalscorer Sveindss Jonsdottir said they needed to be “calmer on the ball” to retain their two-goal advantage but she remains confident of reaching another final. She said: “We have another game so it doesn’t really matter. We’re going to go to London and win there.” Neither side play before next Monday’s second leg and Wolfsburg could be boosted by the return of German striker Alexandra Popp, while Arsenal hope to welcome back Australian forward Foord.
Arsenal have kept their hopes of progressing to the Women’s Champions League final alive, despite a tough week of injury setbacks. The semi-final tie remains finely balanced after Arsenal came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Wolfsburg in Germany, showing resilience to cover up for a disjointed performance. This was due to England defender Leah Williamson being ruled out with a knee injury on Friday, just days after captain Kim Little was ruled out for the season. This added to a long list of injury concerns for manager Jonas Eidevall, who has already been without top scorers Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead this season, and forward Caitlin Foord in recent weeks. Despite Wolfsburg going 2-0 up in 24 minutes, Arsenal recovered to ensure the tie was not over as they return to London. Eidevall said: “Our mission when we came here was to get a result to take back to London and decide it there. We accomplished that but nothing more. Nothing is done but the tie is very much alive.” Arsenal striker Stina Blackstenius said it was “important” the Gunners stayed in the game and they took inspiration from their fightback against Bayern Munich in the quarter-final. She added: “It’s been a tough week for us, with another injury. That has made us even stronger and I feel like the mentality within the team has been really good.” Wolfsburg goalscorer Sveindss Jonsdottir said they needed to be “calmer on the ball” to retain their two-goal advantage but she remains confident of reaching another final. She said: “We have another game so it doesn’t really matter. We’re going to go to London and win there.” Neither side play before next Monday’s second leg and Wolfsburg could be boosted by the return of German striker Alexandra Popp, while Arsenal hope to welcome back Australian forward Foord. With 47,000 tickets sold for the second leg at the Emirates Stadium, Eidevall is hopeful that Arsenal can make it to the Champions League final. He said: “Together we can make it possible to once again take Arsenal to a Champions League final. That’s our dream.”