Thanks for reading this MBM. Keep warm, everyone.
Arsenal boss Renée Slegers talks to Disney Plus. “Proud … not ideal going in 1-0 down … but we stayed very calm … we spoke about a couple of details … it’s not an easy scenario when there was already pressure on us coming into this game … we thought there was space in the middle of the pitch … better situations in the final third … that’s what we spoke about … the press is one of our big strengths … we could be more aggressive … we are busy but we love it … we love to play all these games … you have to go for a win in every game.”
Arsenal’s two-goal hero Alessia Russo talks to Disney Plus. “It was a really important win … we’ve not had the results we wanted in the last block … we’re really happy … our standards are really high … we want to win as much as possible … I know what kind of delivery [Chloe Kelly] she is looking to get into the box … we spoke about the areas I like to attack … so I just got on the end of it! … we work on corners all the time … games can be defined by them … so it’s nice when one comes off and that’s what happened … I understand the nine more … ten I have to lock in defensively … it’s such a responsibility … I will play anywhere … I have to adapt my game …. ultimately I want to be as close to the goal as possible … we have to be locked in and ready to go when we get back from the internationals.”
Real Madrid midfielder Caroline Weir speaks to Disney Plus. “Nice to score but one goal wasn’t really enough … we needed a bit more in the second half … a little bit disappointed … we played well but it wasn’t enough … they came out aggressively in the second half … in the transition we were always dangerous but didn’t take our chances … set-piece goals are disappointing … I’m enjoying [the new format] … it’s cool to play tough teams … the performances are there … we’re always dangerous … it’s just about getting a bit more control.”
The win sends Arsenal up to eighth in the league table on six points. That’s still three shy of the current top four, so with only two matches remaining in this phase, automatic qualification for the quarter-finals remains an outside bet. But the chance of their failing to qualify for the play-off round has decreased dramatically. In addition, that second-half recovery will replenish confidence levels, and ease the pressure on Renée Slegers, who earned her corn with her half-time team-talk and changes during the second period. A productive evening all round for the Gunners.
Arsenal unquestionably deserved their victory. Caroline Weir put the only stamp of quality on the first half to give Real Madrid the advantage at the break. But Arsenal had been better in terms of possession and territory, and in the second period started to apply some serious pressure. The Real defence eventually buckled, two crosses setting up Alessia Russo for two headed goals. Russo the player of the match for sure, though Chloe Kelly, Frida Maanum and Lotte Wubben-Moy should also be mentioned in dispatches.
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FULL TIME: Arsenal 2-1 Real Madrid
A huge victory for the European champions, who resurrect their defence with a fine Alessia Russo-inspired second-half comeback!
90 min +4: The fairly large exception of the Redondo chance apart, Arsenal have done well to keep Real at arm’s length during this additional time.
90 min +3: Conney-Cross is replaced by Codina.
90 min +2: With Real desperately pushing for an equaliser, Foord releases Blackstenius from the centre circle. Blackstenius is clear, but can’t get a head of steam up, and Lakrar arrives from nowhere, making up all sorts of ground to pick the ball off her toe. What defending. The offside flag then goes up to save Blackstenius’s blushes.
90 min +1: Redondo scampers into acres down the inside-left channel. A huge chance to level! She enters the box … but lumps a poor effort straight at Van Domselaar. Arsenal hearts in mouths for a moment there.
90 min: … nothing happens. Arsenal are five additional minutes away from a precious momentum-shifting victory.
89 min: Foord slips Fox into space down the right. Fox reaches the byline and cuts back for Maanum, whose shot is blocked and deflected wide right for a corner. From which …
88 min: McCabe has picked up a knock, or perhaps has just run herself into the ground. Either way, she’s replaced by Hinds. Meanwhile the potential match-winner Russo makes way for Blackstenius. While all that admin was being processed, someone on the Arsenal bench picked up a booking for running their mouth. Bah, more paperwork.
86 min: Real pin Arsenal back … so the hero of the evening, Russo, pops up to steal the ball off Lakrar’s toe, then win a free kick to release the pressure on the hosts.
85 min: Garcia is sent into space down the right again. She’s onside this time, and once more curls dangerously towards the near post … where Wubben-Moy is on point to clear. Arsenal aren’t home and hosed yet.
83 min: Real make one last roll of the dice, replacing the defensive Yasmim with the forward Santiago.
82 min: Garcia is flicked into space down the right. She floats a cross to the near stick, where Caicedo misses her header from close range. Had she connected, it was surely a goal. Though having said that, had she connected, VAR would have surely rewound the tape to find Garcia offside in the first place.
80 min: Cooney-Cross finds space 30 yards out, draws two defenders, and slips a ball through for Russo, who opens her body and slams a shot straight at Rodriguez. Again the flag goes up for offside, again VAR would have had work to do had Russo found the net. Russo is really in the mood this evening.
78 min: Russo wants that hat-trick, though, and she looks for it again by whistling a shot across Rodriguez from the right-hand edge of the D and wide left. Not too far wide left, mind.
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77 min: Mead doesn’t let her head drop, and now drops deep to roll a defence-splitter down the inside-right for Russo, who strides clear into the box and whips a low first-time shot wide right. She should have notched her hat-trick goal. The offside flag pops up, but had Russo found the net, VAR might have had something to say about that. It was close. She looked on.
76 min: Maanum spreads a ball wide right for Mead, who is in acres. Mead’s not sure whether to shoot or cross, though, and ends up doing neither thing successfully.
74 min: However there’s still work to be done, as Yasmim reminds Arsenal by sending a low bobbling shot from the left-hand edge of the D inches wide of the right-hand post. A few sharp intakes of breath around the chilly stadium.
73 min: Russo’s brace has warmed up the Meadow Park faithful, who had slipped into Pensive Mode for a while back there, but are now belting out the songbook.
71 min: Arsenal have shown admirable moxie to turn this around, with their European campaign threatening to unravel. If they keep hold of the three points, then they can turn their attention to rebuilding their WSL challenge, and it’s struggling Liverpool up next. Amazing how the direction of a season can swivel on a sixpence.
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69 min: Real Madrid respond with a triple change. On come Redondo, Keukelaar and Dorado; off go Feller, Athenea and Däbritz.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Real Madrid (Russo 67)
McCabe wins corner for Arsenal down the left, her cross blocked out by Garcia. Mead sends the set piece long. Russo nips into space on the edge of the six-yard line, and steers a clever header into the bottom-right side of the goal. Turnaround complete!
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65 min: Cooney-Cross bursts into space down the middle and rolls a pass towards Foord on the left. The resulting cross is blocked by the first defender. But the sub into the thick of it almost immediately.
63 min: Arsenal make a double change. Smith and Kelly are replaced by Mead and Foord. Kelly, who has been a handful down the right all evening, effs and jeffs as she departs. Frustrated, bordering on not happy.
61 min: Maanum crosses from the right. Russo competes but can’t win the ball. Her presence is enough to confuse Lakrar, though, and the ball sails through to Smith, alone on the penalty spot. She snatches at her shot, which bobbles straight to Rodriguez. Big chance to complete the turnaround.
60 min: Real make the first change of the evening, Navarro making way for Garcia.
58 min: Athenea sashays down the left and crosses low. Yasmim gets a bit too cute, six yards out, attempting a back-flick into the bottom left. She should probably have left that for Caicedo in the middle, but then that’s easy to say from the sidelines.
57 min: Feller makes good down the right and sends an inviting low diagonal cross through the Arsenal box. Neither Caicedo nor Athenea can get close to it.
56 min: Arsenal suddenly look a different side. Smith strides down the left and cuts infield before shooting low and hard. Rodriguez gathers at the second attempt, then is clipped by Kelly as she attempts to launch a counter. Kelly goes into the book.
54 min: The goal stands! Maanum was briefly offside during the build-up, but not part of it. Arsenal have hauled themselves level, partly thanks to Kelly’s persistence down the right, partly to Russo’s sheer will to win that header.
53 min: VAR is having a look for a possible offside, though. Tension envelops Meadow Park.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Real Madrid (Russo 53)
Kelly loops a cross in from the right. Russo rises eight yards out, winning a header she had no right to win, and looping the ball over Rodriguez and into the top-right corner! Out of nothing, the champions are back on terms!
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50 min: Kelly tries to release Russo down the inside-right channel, but Russo has allowed herself to drift miles offside. The flag goes up. All a bit low-key from the hosts. Real counter, and Athenea bursts into the box from the left. She’s got an opportunity to shoot but hesitates. Arsenal swarm and deal with the danger. But for a nanosecond there, a second goal for the Spanish side looked on the cards.
48 min: Smith powers her way into the Real box from the left, working enough space for a shot. It’s blocked, but that’s better from Arsenal.
47 min: Real have come flying out of the blocks for this second half. Now Däbritz advances down the left channel. Her shot is blocked, rendering it harmless, but Arsenal can’t keep gifting the opposition opportunities to attack like this. Audible unease descends on Meadow Park.
46 min: Within five seconds of the restart, Wubben-Moy plays a poor square pass that’s intercepted by Weir, who releases Caicedo into the box. Caicedo slashes a shot into the side netting. Then after 33 seconds, Weir has a dig from distance. Van Domselaar saves. Arsenal need to get back up to speed and quick.
Arsenal, who are staring a third defeat in four WCL matches in the face, get the ball rolling for the second half. Their title defence is in danger of unravelling in short order; they really need to find something in the next 45 minutes. No changes.
Half-time entertainment. Make sure to sign up for our weekly round-up of women’s football, the Moving the Goalposts newsletter. It’s fantastic and free, and here’s the latest offering.
There’s already been one disheartening result for a WSL team tonight. Manchester United were given a good going-over at Wolfsburg; Sophie Downey was at the Volkswagen Arena, and here’s her report, followed by Taha Hashim’s blow-by-blow account.
HALF TIME: Arsenal 0-1 Real Madrid
Rodríguez makes up for her error by claiming Russo’s corner, and that’s the end of the first half. Two out-of-sorts teams scrabbling around in the hope of rediscovering their form. Arsenal had more of the ball, and the territory, but it was Real Madrid’s Caroline Weir who delivered the one bit of true quality. A fine goal, and the defending champions have a very big half of football coming up.
45 min +1: Smith crosses deep from the left. Rodríguez claims, but carries the ball over the dead-ball line, so it’ll be a corner. One last chance for Arsenal to get back on terms before the half-time whistle.
45 min: There will be one additional first-half minute.
44 min: Just the sweetest of connections by the Scotland international. A smattering of frustrated boos from the Arsenal faithful, perhaps aggrieved by the award of the free kick. It was a fair decision, though.
GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Real Madrid (Weir 43)
Däbritz gets up and takes the free kick herself. It’s half-cleared by Catley. It drops to Weir, 15 yards out. She meets the dropping ball with the sweetest of right-foot volleys. The ball whistles into the bottom-right corner, Van Domselaar rooted to the spot. What a finish! Weir properly larruped that.
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41 min: Maanum and Weir take turns to throw themselves into robust challenges. For a brief second, there’s an edge to the game. Then Caldentey skittles Däbritz out on the right. Another free kick in a dangerous position for Real, this time to be sent in from the other side.
39 min: Fox wins Arsenal’s first corner on the right-hand side. Russo overhits it and soon enough play is back on the halfway line.
38 min: Yasmim slips a gorgeous ball down the inside-left channel to release Feller on goal. Feller makes it all the way to the box, opens her body, shoots … and slaps a weak effort straight at Van Domselaar. Easy for the keeper, then the flag goes up for offside. What a defence-splitting pass, though.
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36 min: Now Athenea nicks the ball off Russo, who shoves her over. A free kick in a dangerous position wide left. Navarro curls it into a busy mixer, but Wubben-Moy clears the danger. Real beginning to show in attack again, after a mid-half slump.
34 min: Athenea tries again down the inside left, but once again Fox isn’t in the mood to be dribbled past. She wins the duel and Arsenal clear their lines. This is shaping up to be a good personal battle.
32 min: The corner’s a non-event. Russo tries to launch a counter, spraying a long ball down the left, intended for Caldentey, but that move peters out. Arsenal come again, though, down the right this time. Smith jigs into the box and goes over. There are muted cries for a penalty, but more from the crowd than the Arsenal players. To be fair, she just ran slap-bang into Däbritz, who was entitled to stand her ground.
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31 min: Athenea dribbles into the Arsenal box down the inside-left channel. Fox does well to stick to her and block the eventual cross-cum-shot out for a corner. It’s Real’s first of the evening.
30 min: Kelly drops the shoulder to get past Navarro on the left, then swings long. Too long. Maanum was free in the middle, six yards out. Goal kick.
28 min: … and it’s easily claimed by Rodríguez, who earns a whack for her bravery. She’s fine to continue, though.
27 min: Russo wins a corner down the left. Arsenal’s best chance so far came from one of these. Kelly to swing it in …
26 min: This is better from Arsenal. Kelly is released into space down the right by Maanum’s cute reverse pass. Kelly curls low towards the far stick, where Russo connects. Rodriguez parries out for a corner, but there’ll be no set piece, because the flag pops up for offside.
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24 min: The crowd have gone a bit quiet. The lack of serious goalmouth action, perhaps. Or maybe everyone’s lips are frozen together. Or the nippy sweeties are kicking in.
22 min: Fox probes down the right and lays the ball back for Russo, who loops a cross in for Kelly, six yards out. But she can’t control, Maanum isn’t able to latch onto the loose ball, and Rodriguez clams. Half a chance there.
21 min: Kelly whips a low cross in from the right. Russo and Maanum are lurking, waiting to slam home, but Méndez reads the danger, intercepts and clears. For all the attacking intent, neither goalkeeper has had a save to make.
19 min: The game slows for the first time, and gets scrappy. Athenea tries to get something going with a neat spin into space in the centre circle, but there’s nobody up with play and she’s forced to turn tail.
17 min: Kelly drives in from the right and attempts a one-two with Russo on the edge of the D. It doesn’t quite come off, but for a second there, the centre of the Real defence threatened to open up for Arsenal.
15 min: The crowd at Meadow Park are still giving it plenty. That they’re still there at all is to be commended. It is beyond cold. Hip-flask-and-nippy-sweetie weather.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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!
