Arsenal Women head coach Jonas Eidevall slammed UEFA and the Women’s Super League for having “zero concerns” about the lack of recovery time between fixtures.

Speaking after Arsenal beat Rosenborg 1-0 in the final of a mini-tournament, at the first hurdle of Women’s Champions League qualification, Eidevall labelled the win as “massively important.”

“We knew this was a really big test, two competitive games that the turnaround time is so short, it’s such a short turnaround time,” said Eidevall.

“Now we’re through it, I can say it, it’s lucky an English team will not have to play in these mini tournaments again. For all the excitement that there is, it is a relic from the past.”

Arsenal and Rosenborg progressed from semi-finals on Wednesday before meeting in the deciding game on Saturday night, leaving little time for recovery in Eidevall’s view.

“This is just done from a budget perspective, and that’s why they don’t even extend it to be played on Sundays. That’s why they cram it in on Saturdays, just to save another hotel night. 

“But all research around the world shows there’s a massive difference between 72 hours and 96 hours recovery after a game. And that part I just can’t get my head around. 

“But that’s why we had to bring in Olympic players early, that’s why we went to Washington, to get a fast start to the season and be prepped to play in these games here. 

“The reality is, I think Paris [FC] went through, but apart from that, if you see the top leagues in Europe, if we say that is the German league, the Spanish league, the French league and the English league, both the German team and Spanish team are out.

“So it shows again what a tricky stage this is, being that second or third in a top division go out at this stage. So we’re really happy to be on the correct side of it this time.”

Arsenal will face more tight turnarounds between games as soon as the second round of qualifying, the first leg of which could take place just three days before the Gunners kick off their WSL season against Manchester City.

“That’s just science. The WSL has zero concerns about it, UEFA has zero concerns about it,” Eidevall said.

“Science, it’s a fact. It impacts injury risk. But it’s the same in the men’s game, just that science is one thing and broadcast and money is another thing.

“I’m a part of the UEFA Football Board so of course I raise concerns like that with the mini-tournament in the relevant forums to try and drive change. But you always need to get on with things. It’s not an excuse, it’s just scientific, how people recover from football games, before your muscles fully have recovered.

“If you haven’t fully recovered from the game after 72 hours, after 96 hours you have.”