Inside information
Arsenal will play away to Juventus in its third Champions League group match on Tuesday evening. It looks like a pivotal draw for the group given that both teams have so far won against Valerenga and lost to Bayern Munich. Arsenal and Juventus will play a double-header over the next nine days, with Bayern very likely to pick up six points against Valerenga in that time.
Arsenal opened the group stage with a disappointing 5-2 loss in Munich, but got back on track with a 4-1 win over the Norwegian side in the second round at the Emirates Stadium. Two games against Juve followed by a home game against Bayern appear to be a hat-trick of games in which Arsenal’s fate in the group will truly be decided.
Arsenal couldn’t have asked for a better setup after their comfortable 5-0 win over Brighton on Friday evening which saw them lead 3-0 inside half an hour. This allowed them to treat 66% of the match as a training exercise and gave them an extra rest before the trip to Biella in Italy.
Arsenal has not lost yet since Rene Slegers took charge of the team temporarily, achieving three wins and a draw in that period. But Juventus will undoubtedly have their toughest test yet under the leadership of the interim Dutch coach, and defeat will leave them no room for error in the remainder of the group stage.
Team news
Mariona is fit and fit after being rested from a small muscle injury in the match against Brighton on Friday. Viktoria Belova (knee) and Amanda Ellstedt (maternity leave) are the only other absentees, and Laura Weinreuther traveled with the team after a knee injury.
Band available
Goalkeeping: 1. Zinnsberger 14. Van Domselaar 40. Williams.
Defenders: 2. Fox 3. Eben Mooy 5. L Codina 6. Williamson 7. Catley 11. Maccabi 26. Weinreuther 62. Reid
Midfield: 10. Little 12. L. Mannum 13. Which 16. Cavaghi 22. Kuhl 32. Kone Kroos
Forwards: 9. Meade 17. Hurtig 19. Ford 23. Rousseau 25. Blaxtenius 53. Liazon 56. Godfrey
A word from the Boss
“It will be a different type of football than we normally play in the WSL. We expect them to make things difficult for us with the way they defend. It’s unconventional from a WSL point of view, they are a bit more player-to-player in the way they play. This is a new challenge for us We are working hard to try to exploit this defensive system that they play in.
“They have a lot of qualities, we don’t know their starting lineup yet, but there are a lot of qualities in their team in all the units. They are a strong competitor, good on the counter-attack, so we have to try to find the right balance to know when to go fast and when to slow it down.
“It will be a big challenge for us, but the players are on board with this and I think they have a good idea of what their game will look like, and we are trying to manage them as best we can.” We go out there to give our best, and we have great belief in what we can do. We will see how the game goes and the decisions we have to make but we are going there to win.
last time
The two teams met in the group stage two seasons ago, and at the Allianz Arena, the home of Juventus, Arsenal tied 1-1. Lynette Bernstein advanced for Juventus, then her international teammate Viviane Miedema equalized the score.
Opposition
Juventus was formed ahead of the 2017–18 season, and immediately went on to dominate Italian women’s football, winning the league title in each of the first five seasons of its existence. In the 2021-22 season, former Arsenal coach Joe Montemurro took charge of the club and led them to the domestic treble as well as the Champions League quarter-finals.
However, since 2022, it has ceded its domestic dominance to Roma, who have won the last two league titles, while Juventus finished second domestically for the first time. Montemurro left last season amid disagreements with sporting director Stefano Bragni, whose contract was extended the day Montemurro left.
Juventus’ squad includes mainstays of the Italian national team such as Sara Gama, Barbara Bonancia and Christian Girelli, and also has a good mix of imported talent such as Hannah Bennison, Viola Calligaris and former Arsenal goalkeeper Pauline Peraud-Magnine. Juventus is a strong team in counterattacks and has not conceded a single goal in the last four matches.
A player worth watching
Arsenal may not have figured out how to maximize Mariona Caldente’s talent yet, even if she has played well since joining the club from Barcelona. Her prior assist for Rousseau’s goal against Manchester United gave a glimpse of her creative qualities but the fact that she has been deployed differently on the right, left and as a number 10 shows that Arsenal have not fully figured out how best to utilize her. Hit yet.
With Mariona rested with a muscle injury on Friday, Arsenal returned to their old shoes and Mead, Ford and Mannum formed a trio behind Alessia Russo and it coincided with their best attacking display of the season. However, my own view is that Brighton were so poor that had Mariona started she would have comfortably exited the game with at least one direct goal contribution.
The question still remains as to where she will play against Juve, if Slegers do decide to bring her straight back into the lineup. Mariona has a lot of experience winning this competition, let alone playing in it, and her experience will be useful in this regard. It will be interesting to see where Slegers decides to field her.
Expected lineup
Subs: 3. Wubben-Moy 5. L. Codina 12. L. Maanum 14. van Domselaar 16. Kafaji 17. Hurtig 22. Kuhl 25. Blackstenius 26. Wienroither 32. Cooney-Cross 40. Williams
How to catch the game
The match will be held at the Vittorio Pozo Stadium in Biella, and kick-off at 5.45pm UK time. The match will be shown live and free on DAZN (no subscription required).
Coming
We’re in Biella and we’ll be getting every word from Renee Slegers’ post-match press conference on site shortly after full time and we should be able to speak to one of the players as well. We’ll also have Aidan Gibson report at the match’s whistle shortly after full time.
