GLASGOW City will this evening face a side which has the full support of its men's club when they play Standard Liege in the Uefa Women's Champions League.
The last 32, first-leg tie is being played at the Stade Maurice Defrasne, while the Belgian parent club is chartering a plane to fly the players to Scotland for next week's return match. It is a luxury almost unheard of in women's football, but although City are a stand-alone amateur club it says a great deal for the Scottish champions that they are the slight favourites to reach the last 16.
City are the seeded side, and in the qualifying group beat FC Twente 2-0. The Dutch champions in turn pipped Standard Liege to win last season's inaugural BeNe League, and beat them 4-2 in the same competition three weeks ago.
It is the sort of form which should auger well for the Scots, but City's loan signing from Seattle Reign, Jess Fishlock, disagrees. "I hope I speak for the team when I say we won't be taking that recent result too seriously," she pointed out. "Unless you were at the game you don't know the circumstances. You don't reach the last 32 of the Champions League without being a very good side."
City signed the fully professional Fishlock with the Champions League in mind, and hope that the inspiring presence of the Welsh captain can help them to overcome not just Standard Liege, but also Arsenal in the last 16. The ambitious Glasgow club hope to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament for the first time.
"We are expecting a very tough game," Fishlock confirmed. "I know some of the Standard Liege players because we played Belgium twice in the 2011 World Cup qualifiers. They don't have an outstanding individual but work very effectively as a team.
"The game has come at a good time for us. We've just won the league and on Sunday got into the final of the Scottish Cup. Ideally we'd like to come back with a win having scored a couple of goals, but the important thing is to still be in the tie with the home game to come."
City will be without striker Denise O'Sullivan. The Republic of Ireland internationalist collected two soft yellow cards in the qualifying group and is ineligible - giving Standard Liege, who didn't have to qualify, a significant advantage.
"It's a rule which should be looked at," Fishlock pointed out, "because nowadays it's quite easy to pick up a yellow card. It's obviously a blow that we are losing Denise for this match."
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