Arsenal host OL Lyonnes in the UEFA Women's Champions League on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium, defending the trophy Renée Slegers lifted in Lisbon eleven months ago. Jonatan Giráldez's side have already beaten them 2-1 in London, and Slegers has to find answers she did not find that night.
What happened at Meadow Park, and what Slegers has to solve
On October 7 at Meadow Park, OL Lyonnes won 2-1 in the competition's opening league-phase fixture. Alessia Russo opened for Arsenal after seven minutes. Melchie Dumornay scored twice in five first-half minutes, both after Arsenal errors in their own build-up. Daphne van Domselaar rushed a pass out to Dumornay on the edge of the box for the first. For the second, van Domselaar rolled short to Mariona Caldentey, who lost possession turning into pressure, a weak header from Katie Reid dropped to Dumornay, and she finished.
UEFA technical observer and former UWCL-winning Barcelona head coach Lluís Cortés broke the press down afterwards. OL's midfielders shut the short options to the goalkeeper, Bacha and Diani compressed the width, and Shrader and Chawinga cut the switch. The trap worked twice inside five minutes because Arsenal kept trying to play through it.
Sunday is Slegers's chance to answer it, with four extra months of footage and a place in the Oslo final on the line. The cleanest fixes are structural: more rotations in the first phase to give van Domselaar two easy options, a deeper pivot from Kim Little, or a direct ball to Russo when the press sets.
Dumornay against Arsenal's right
Melchie Dumornay has scored in both legs of OL's UWCL last-four ties in each of the last two seasons, and she has been the competition's Young Player of the Year twice in a row. Across thirteen months she has three goals against Arsenal. Last year she scored twice in the first leg in London and pulled one back in the 4-1 second leg. This October she scored twice again.
Arsenal's right side will see her the most. Emily Fox at full-back, with Chloe Kelly or Beth Mead ahead. Kelly scored in the Chelsea first leg and is the more senior option; Mead is the quicker defensive worker. Slegers has rotated both across the quarter-final block. Whoever starts needs to stop turning Dumornay onto her left foot in the channel, which is how the first October goal came and how the second one broke from a loose central pick-up. OL's best chance of a lead into the second leg runs through that matchup.
How Arsenal take a lead into the second leg
Alessia Russo leads the UWCL scoring charts this season on eight goals. She scored at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in last year's 4-1, striking immediately after halftime to turn a 2-0 lead into a three-goal cushion and shift the tie towards Lisbon. If Arsenal are to carry a lead to Décines next Saturday, the likeliest route is Russo on the end of a Caldentey or Kelly delivery. Giráldez's centre-backs are the same pair who conceded four against Wolfsburg in extra time a fortnight ago. Engen and Renard won that night, but there were long passages where the back line was stretched and exposed.
Giráldez's bench across two legs
Against Wolfsburg, Giráldez sent on Dumornay, Chawinga and Katoto together in the 69th minute. Two of them scored in extra time, along with substitute Egurrola. OL's depth is the factor Slegers has to weigh across both legs: an eight-time European champion who can introduce three forwards after an hour turns game state into squad state. Slegers has Stina Blackstenius, Caitlin Foord and Olivia Smith, a strong bench but shorter on match-winners from cold. If the tie is level at seventy minutes Sunday, the matchup of benches runs OL's way.
"We've learned a lot from those experiences last year, how much it takes, but it also inspires us to see what we can do and what we're capable of."
Renée Slegers, Arsenal head coach, speaking to UEFA ahead of Sunday's first leg
Squads, and the week ahead
Leah Williamson returned for England's World Cup qualifier win over Iceland on April 18, back from the hamstring issue that kept her out of the Chelsea block; she is available Sunday. Steph Catley was rested from Australia's camp and should start. Van Domselaar is fit. OL Lyonnes travel without significant absences from the Wolfsburg night. Giráldez has Wendie Renard in her fifteenth UWCL last-four appearance, alongside the generation that beat Arsenal in the first leg last year. Kick-off at the Emirates is 15:30 BST, the broadcast is on Disney+. The second leg is Saturday May 2 at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais. OL have won all five of their previous UWCL visits to London.
