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Renee Slegers makes three changes from the win at Spurs. Elisa De Almeida , Ona Batlle and Geraldine Reuteler come in for Leah Williamson, Emily Fox and Lisa Baum
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Rodriguez; Batlle, De Almeida, Catley, Hinds; Cooney-Cross, Stanway; Smith, Reuteler, Foord; Russo.
Subs: Borbe, Damm, Fox, Wubben-Moy, Williamson, Little, Baum, Blackstenius, Holmberg.
Benfica (4-3-3) Pauels; Amado, Gomes, Testen, Bratberg Lund; Pauleta, Moller, Csiki; Davidson, Dorsin, Alves.
Subs: Thais Lima, Bihina, Demehin, Norton, Borges, Oliveira, Sabastine, Tristao, Ziqin, Costa, Loucao, Guedes.
The half-time scores in tonight’s early games
Hello, hello and welcome to live coverage of Arsenal v Benfica in the Women’s Champions League. Arsenal will hope their 2-1 win at Tottenham kickstarts a hitherto disappointing season. They’re sixth in the WSL, with two wins from seven, and have four points out of six in the Champions League. It should really be six from six – they led 2-0 away to Paris FC last month before being pegged back .
This is what the head coach Renee Slegers had to say in her programme notes for tonight’s game.
double quotation mark Let’s make Saturday’s success against Tottenham Hotspur the beginning of something. We have been on such a frustrating run of games and to be able to break that cycle on Saturday, at the north London derby no less, meant so much to all of us.
You all deserved that win. Your dedication to this team throughout a difficult start to the season has been nothing short of incredible and we are all so grateful for your support. We wanted to make sure you knew that.
The supporters were on our minds all week in the lead-up to the match. We’d spoken within the group about how everyone wanted to play for something bigger than themselves, and there’s no greater symbol for that than a sold-out away end of nearly 4,000 people. So we said: let’s do this for you. In times like these, actions speak louder than words.
You could see that when Leah sprinted to you the moment the final whistle blew, with Isabella Damm and Amy Liddiard right there in the crowd alongside you. Saturday was an outpouring of relief, but it was also more than that. It was a sign of the connection we share. You are all a part of this team.
