FAMILIARITY is not expected to breed contempt when Arsenal host Glasgow City in this afternoon's Champions League showdown in London.
Nevertheless, the last-16, first-leg tie features a group of players who know each other well. Ten of them - three from Arsenal and seven from City - were involved in Scotland's World Cup qualifying wins over Northern Ireland and Poland. Throw in the fact that Shelley Kerr , the Arsenal manager, was coach of Scotland under-19 side until recently and today's game at Barnet's ground, The Hive, almost has the feel of a reunion.
Pleasantries will cease at 1pm, when the game kicks off, and for Arsenal in particular there is a lot at stake. While seven-times Scottish champions City are attempting to make the quarter finals for the first time, the London side need to win their first ever Champions League to qualify for the 2014/15 version. That is because Arsenal, who have dominated English football for two decades, are in the unusual position of having just lost their Women's Super League title to big-spending Liverpool. A points deduction also deprived them of the runners-up spot and the second Champions League place.
On the face of it, this is disastrous for a side which is bidding to qualify for the quarter-finals of Europe's premier women's tournament for a twelfth successive season. Needless to say, Kerr believes it is a false picture. "Because Arsenal didn't win the league everybody thinks we're on a downward spiral but I think the opposite," said the former Scotland captain. "We only lost one game on the pitch domestically all season and won both the cups. We were beating Liverpool 3-0 when the unregistered player came on. It was an administrative issue which had nothing to do with the players or coaching staff.
"Arsenal pride themselves on doing these things correctly so it was a huge blow for us. All we can do now is try to win this season's competition and qualify as holders."
It is a big ask as Lyon, who play Lisa Evans' club Turbine Potsdam in the tie of the round tomorrow, are widely regarded as the best team in Europe. Arsenal beat the German club in the quarter-finals last season before losing to eventual winners Wolfsburg.
Kerr is boosted by the return of England forward Kelly Smith and Emma Mitchell, who has been in fine form at left-back since joining Arsenal from Germany's SGS Essen, is expected to start against one of her former clubs while Kim Little will pit her wits against City's Jess Fishlock in an enticing midfield battle. "I've played against Jess a few times for club and country and I'm looking forward to it again," said Little.
"She's very energetic and works extremely hard although she is slightly more defensive than me. It is great that a player of her profile has chosen to play for a Scottish club, even if it's only for a short time."
Another Scotland internationalist, Caroline Weir, is also in the Arsenal squad but may have to settle for a place on the bench. "Caroline is the future of this club," enthused Kerr of the 18-year-old midfielder who signed from Hibernian in July. "She is an unbelievable talent who has vision. Her passing range is magnificent and she and will become a huge star in this league."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article