Key events
13 min: Caldentey tries to release Maanum down the middle, but the pass is just behind her team-mate, and dribbles through to Rodriguez.
11 min: Russo dribbles down the left and checks back. She lays off to Smith, who opens her body and looks to send a power-curler into the top-right corner from the left-hand edge of the D. It’s always flying high and wide, but was a decent enough strike nonetheless. And full marks for ambition, because if that planted into the postage stamp, it would have been quite the goal.
10 min: … so both teams have shown promise in attack. A nice open start to the game.
8 min: Caicedo dribbles in from the left and lays off to Weir, who takes another shot from the edge of the Arsenal box. The ball clips Wubben-Moy on the arm, and the two Real players scream for a penalty, but they’re not getting one. Wubben-Moy’s arm was by her side, and there wasn’t much distance between the players either. We move on.
7 min: Arsenal are beginning to impose themselves after that slow start. McCabe crosses from the left. Cleared. Russo feeds Kelly down the right. Another cross. Another clearance. The Real defence just about holding firm.
5 min: Smith wins the first corner of the game for Arsenal. Kelly swings it in from the left. Maanum rises highest, six yards out … and should really score, but sends her downwards header wide right. A perfectly timed jump, the header not so much. Arsenal should be leading. A big let-off for Real.
3 min: … so having said that, Kelly advances down the right and crosses. It’s a slight mishit, and nearly loops over Rodríguez’s head and into the top left! But the Real keeper adjusts to the situation quickly, backpedaling and plucking the ball from the sky, just under her crossbar.
2 min: Arsenal haven’t really had a sniff yet. Real are pressing hard and keeping the hosts in their own half. “There is chatter among the Arsenalati as to how soon Kyra Cooney-Cross will displace Kim Little,” begins Charles Antaki. “The latter is no youngster, though retiring from international football has kept her going for a while yet. But it’s stating the obvious that Arsenal have missed her composure and problem-solving in midfield these last games while she’s been injured. Cooney-Cross is always tidy and firm in her passing, but doesn’t seem to be so much of a schemer as Little, and inevitably Arsenal have certainly suffered from a lack of guile recently. Some smartness needed tonight.”
1 min: Real, in blue shirts, are on the front foot immediately. Within the first 15 seconds, Weir has a whack from the edge of the D but it’s blocked. Onwards and upwards for Arsenal.
Captains Steph Catley and Misa Rodríguez exchange pennants … then Real Madrid get the ball rolling. A decent atmosphere at Meadow Park in Borehamwood, given the arctic temperatures this evening.
No word from Arsenal boss Renée Slegers. She may have more important things on her mind than chatting to journalists and broadcasters, given Arsenal’s form. On Disney Plus, Fara Williams points out that her record this season isn’t that dissimilar to the one that got her predecessor Jonas Eidevall canned last season, with the obvious caveat of the credit in the bank accrued by her WCL win. Anyway, the players are out, and we’ll be off in a minute.
Real Madrid coach Pau Quesada speaks to Disney Plus. “A very attractive fixture … we have similar identities as teams … this is one of the most attractive fixtures in Europe … Arsenal are still a very good team [despite their early-season form] … they will create chances … they will be up there in the WSL and Women’s Champions League … having said that we hope to capitalise on any mistakes … we weren’t clinical enough [against Barcelona] so we need to improve that, especially against the best teams in Europe.”
Beth Mead might not be starting tonight. But she’s leading the line in the campaign to tackle climate change. Here’s her piece from today’s Guardian, a vivid picture of how global warming is already impacting on football around the world.
Arsenal have made three changes to their starting XI in the wake of that goalless draw with Spurs. Chloe Kelly, Frida Maanum and Olivia Smith replace Beth Mead, Caitlin Foord and Stina Blackstenius, all of whom drop to the bench.
Caroline Weir of Scotland starts in the Real Madrid midfield. Filippa Angeldahl, once of Manchester City, lines up alongside her.
The teams
Arsenal: van Domselaar, Fox, Wubben-Moy, Catley, McCabe, Cooney-Cross, Maanum, Caldentey, Kelly, Russo, Smith.
Subs: Borbe, Liddiard, Codina, Mead, Foord, Pelova, Nighswonger, Hinds, Blackstenius, Harwood.
Real Madrid: Misa, Navarro, Mendez, Lakrar, Yasmim, Angeldal, Dabritz, del Castillo, Weir, Caicedo, Feller.
Subs: Lopez, Tellez, Galvez, Redondo, Garcia, Bennison, Holmgaard, Andersson, Keukelaar, Dorado, Cristobal, Santiago.
Preamble
Arsenal’s defence of the Champions League hasn’t been going to plan. Renée Slegers’s side have lost two out of their three matches so far in the league phase: a 2-1 home reverse to Lyon in matchday one, followed by a staggering collapse at Bayern Munich in matchday three last week. Those losses sandwich a win at Benfica that’s kept the show on the road, and with positions 5 to 12 securing progression to the play-offs, there’s no need to be hammering away on panic buttons just yet. But a top-four place and its concomitant guarantee of a quarter-final berth may soon become a pipe dream if Arsenal don’t get a wriggle on. They could do with a big result tonight.
They may be secretly pleased to see Real Madrid roll into town. Arsenal’s glorious Alessia Russo-inspired comeback in the second leg of last season’s quarter-final was perhaps the signature moment of their run to glory, and that 3-0 win will surely give them great belief going into this game. On the other hand, they did lose the first leg 2-0, getting themselves into enough trouble where an all-timer of a comeback was required. So it’s swings and roundabouts, and nobody will be taking too much for granted.
Especially as neither team are in top form. Arsenal, off the pace in the WSL too, followed defeat in Munich with a disappointing goalless draw with Tottenham Hotspur, while Real dropped their first Champions League points last week at home to Paris FC before getting thrashed 4-0 in Liga F at the weekend by Barcelona. Something’s got to give, but good luck predicting exactly what. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
