FCB Women travel to London 'confidently' in good position

It's round two in a clash of European giants! FC Bayern Women visit Arsenal WFC on Wednesday evening in the second leg of their UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final, needing just a draw to secure one of the four coveted semi-final spots. Kick-off at London's Emirates Stadium is at 21:00 CEST (free live coverage on DAZN and FCB Web Radio).

The state of play

Bayern Women took the first step on the big stage in Munich a week ago. Alexander Straus' side battled to a 1-0 win at home to the Gunners thanks to a goal from striker Lea Schüller, putting them in the driving seat going into the second leg on Wednesday night. The Reds will be hoping to build on that in North London and reach the semi-finals of the Women's Champions League for the third time in the club's history.

Doing so would also keep their dream of the treble very much alive. The Munich girls travel to the English capital with plenty of confidence and as FLYERALARM Women's Bundesliga leaders after the 1-0 win in the top-of-the-table clash against rivals VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday evening. That crunch victory was also the team's seven successive win without conceding in all competitions.

The opponents

Reaching the Champions League semi-finals would be a big step in Arsenal's recent history. The Gunners have failed to reach the final four of the competition in the last 10 years. After a successful group phase, in which they even saw off record Champions League winners Lyon, the defeat to FCB in the first leg was their first setback in the current European campaign. Coach Jonas Eidevall's side will be determined to put it right in the second leg on home soil, and the signs so far look good - the Londoners have been beaten just twice in front of their own fans all season. They're currently fourth in the Barclays Women's Super League, but only three points behind leaders Manchester United.

The statistics

The two teams have met just twice before, with the Munich club winning both times. It finished 1-0 to Bayern Women in both the final of the 2019 Emirates Cup and in the quarter-final first leg last Tuesday.

The team news

Long-term absentees Linda Dallmann (syndesmosis ligament tear) and Giulia Gwinn (ACL tear) remain unavailable. Defenders Carolin Simon (muscular problem) and Tainara (ankle injury) will also miss out again.

The injured players will travel to London together with the squad to support the team in the stadium.

The pre-match quotes

Head coach Alexander Straus: "The last few weeks have been very tough and tiring, but confidence is high after the last two matches. The players are dealing with the huge strain brilliantly at the moment. Wolfsburg was probably one of our best performances of the season. I'm just really proud of how the team are performing right now and giving everything in every game despite the number of matches. We're in the hard period of the season and you have to be able to deal with that if you want to be champions. We want to present the best version of ourselves in tomorrow's match."

Captain Lina Magull: "We're aware of what Arsenal are capable of, that they want to have a lot of the ball and are very good on the ball. We saw that last week, which is why we want to make sure we have more possession ourselves and execute our attacks better. We didn't do that so well at the Allianz Arena last week. Despite that, though, we can travel to London confidently on the back of two important wins."

On the state of play after the first leg: "We're not deluding ourselves about the 1-0 win from the first leg. It remains very close. We're approaching it as if it's 0-0. Of course we've got a bit of an advantage but we're not going to hope for a narrow result or a draw. We're going to play to win, we absolutely want to win the second leg as well - and then the journey will continue," added the skipper. 

You can watch the UWCL showdown live here: