Arsenal Women's winger Caitlin Foord has labelled Lyon as a 'strong' side whilst manager Jonas Eidevall echoed this sentiment but went on to claim that this opening UEFA Women's Champions League clash will be a good 'reality check' for where his side is at in the early part of 2022-23.
The Gunners narrowly qualified for the group stages of this season's competition after defeating Ajax over two legs by an aggregate score of 3-2. Their reward for passing the test posed to them by the Dutch outfit is a reasonable group which Eidevall's side have a good chance of qualifying from. Placed in Group C with Juventus, Zurich and Lyon, a top-two finish alongside their first opponents is a realistic expectation for what should be expected of the north Londoners this year. A point at the very least away to a serial winning side in France and beyond would be seen as a very good start.
"Yeah, I don't really think about things in those terms," Eidevall said when responding to a question about Lyon's imperious home form ahead of this one. "I always think that we have an obligation to represent Arsenal and to do our very best. To be honest, it doesn’t change what we think of Lyon, and that's the same for me. Me, personally, I was here in 2013 with a team I coached in Sweden."
Having won a total of 26 titles domestically from 2006 onwards coupled with the eight UEFA Women's Champions League trophies that have been attained across the same time period, no wonder a positive result in some form would not be frowned up by the Arsenal fanbase. Manager Eidevall though, despite having injury concerns to contend with ahead of this opener on Wednesday night amid Leah Williamson and Rafaelle worries, believes the outcome and challenge of this Lyon clash will act as a useful 'reality check' to see where his side are at currently with their unbeaten start to the new season in real threat of ending at the Groupama Stadium.
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"Probably a good reality check to see where we are at at the moment," the Swedish manager affirmed in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday evening. "That is always very exciting because no matter what, tomorrow we will know exactly where we are at.
"I think we will have a pretty good idea of what kind of opposition we're going to play at the top level of Europe. Most of our domestic leagues but also from our experiences playing Barcelona last season that being said, I still think it's always a really good opportunity to get that reality check of where we are right now, at this moment, and so I'm looking forward a lot."
With the eight injuries that opposition manager Sonia Bompastor has to deal with ahead of selecting her team which will not be led by the currently sidelined 2018 Ballon D'Or winner Ada Hegerberg, Australia winger Foord is under no illusion about the challenge ahead for the team. She said: "I think their squad is very strong. Yeah, it's going to be a challenge for us and I'm excited to play against them. Obviously, we have a good team with world-class players as well."
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