Press conference

Eidevall: 'We can beat any team on any given day'

Jonas Eidevall held his pre-match press conference at London Colney on the eve of our UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich. 

Invigorated from our 5-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Women's Super League on Saturday, Eidevall acknowledged the difficulties of a tight schedule but noted that it could also play in our favour for this tie. 

"I think momentum is important in football and it's important to be able to be consistent in your performances. It is not easy to play in Europe and to perform at the weekend. It's not for everyone to do that but everyone wants to be able to do that.

"I was very pleased because it wasn't easy to play Tottenham last weekend. The players managed so well to not only win confidently but also keep their focus on what they could control."

With round two against Bayern Munich on the horizon, Eidevall is wary of how well the German side defended in the first leg to prevent us from scoring a vital equaliser. 

"They have good individual players: goalkeepers, central defenders, fullbacks and so on. But you also can see that they're a very well-organised team. They work very hard together collectively.

"There are a lot of times when you get into the penalty area and they block your shots and make things really tight around you. It really forces you to be on top of goalscoring creation in order to create open chances against them."

Despite the narrow loss to Bayern in Germany last week, our coach is not concerned by how that sets up the return fixture at Emirates Stadium. 

"With the away goals rule, a result like this would have been really complicated to manage. Now, it is not complicated. We just need to win the football match. 

"If we score once, we'll take it to extra time and if we win it by two we will finish the game then already. So we need to be effective and we need to create goalscoring opportunities of course, but we need to do it with balance so that we win the football match."

When asked about the prospect of going further in the competition, Eidevall reiterated his mantra of one game at a time. One thing that is for sure, though, is the sense of belief in the dressing room. 

"I think we can beat any team on any given day. That is such a great feeling to have. We know it's going to be determined by small details but this set of players could play any team in the world and I know we would have a chance of beating them. That is one of the greatest feelings to have because then you know that everything is possible.

"Champions of the continent is probably the greatest trophy you can win in club football," he continued. "The fact that we're the only English club to achieve this so far is something that we are very proud of. Of course, if we could repeat this in the future, it would be great.

"But let's make the most of it tomorrow. Maybe we can progress and then once you reach the semi-finals, I think everyone is capable of winning the trophy."

For Jonas Eidevall's full press conference, click play on the video above. 

See Full List

Fixtures & Results

Premier League
Ticket Info