THERE will be no hiding place for Glasgow City's players when they play FFC Turbine Potsdam in the Champions League in Germany this afternoon.
The last-16, first-leg tie will be televised live, a first for a Scottish women’s club.
On paper, the odds are stacked against the champions of Scotland. Potsdam are a formidable side, having won the Champions League twice since 2005 and been runners-up on two further occasions. They have also won the women’s Bundesliga for the past three seasons.
City are no slouches in the honours department, either, as they recently won the Scottish title for the fifth time in a row. But there is no comparison in the standard of the respective leagues, and while the Glasgow side’s players have day jobs, Potsdam, like most of the leading German clubs, are professional.
Nevertheless, Leanne Ross, the City and Scotland midfielder, believes the difference is all in the mind. “Everything we do is professional,” she said. “The only difference is that we don’t get paid.”
Just one City player, Kat Lindner, has encountered Potsdam before. The striker played for their rivals, Frankfurt, as a teenager before moving to America to study, and later to Scotland to work.
“Since the women’s Bundesliga was formed, it has been either Potsdam or Frankfurt who have won it,” she pointed out. “In terms of finances, Frankfurt have the most money, but Potsdam aren’t far behind. We have to be positive. If we show a professional attitude and work ethic we can more than make up for the difference in status.”
Formed in 1971 in the old East Germany, Potsdam were restricted by the communist regime from travelling outwith their own borders until the fall of the Berlin Wall. Unlike most of the men’s clubs, they managed to keep their top players after reunification.
Eddie Wolecki Black, the City coach, is under no illusions about the task facing his side. It is the fourth year running that the Glasgow club have drawn German opposition in the competitition, although the previous three losses, to Frankfurt, Bayern Munich and Duisburg were one-off games in the group stages.
“To expect us to topple one of the top teams in Germany is probably unrealistic, but there is no way we’ll play with an inferiority complex,” Black said. “Despite all the factors that are against us, we’re still going to go and have a right crack at it.”
At the very least, Black hopes his side will still be in with a chance of reaching the quarter-finals when the second leg is played at Petershill Park next Wednesday. “We want to keep the tie alive, that is the key,” he said. “We’ve drawn the top four German sides in consecutive years and the odds against that happening must be pretty high. It’s a bit unfortunate we’re playing Potsdam instead of some other team in the last 16.”
Unlike their opponents, who play a traditional winter season, City are near the end of their summer one and Black is worried that fatigue might be a factor. On top of their day jobs and five nights a week training, eight of the squad were involved in Scotland’s recent midweek Euro 2013 qualifying games, against Israel and Wales.
Some of these players looked jaded against the Welsh at Tynecastle last Thursday, but a bonus for Black was that they didn’t have a league game on Sunday.
Today’s match will be broadcast on both BBC Alba and Eurosport, with the kick-off at 4pm.
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