Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall and Lia Walti spoke to the media ahead of the Gunners’ trip to Germany to take on Bayern Munich in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

Here are three things we learned from the pre-match press conference.

1. Arsenal are relishing the Champions League occasion

Jonas Eidevall: “Exciting, we start against a really tough opponent, a top European team. We go away, I feel it’s really exciting to be playing these games. This is what we want to be in the Champions League for, we want to play against the best, and we want to be the best, so we’re looking forward to it.

“The Champions League for me is very special. It’s with the best teams, it’s the one competition where you’re competing outside your own country. We’re in four competitions, but saying that, the Champions League and the league, they will always be very very special to me and to the team. Right now, we’re in a situation where we need to go full throttle in both of them, and then so it has to be.”

Lia Walti: “I think the Champions League is a competition we all want to win. It’s the biggest stage, again you can compete against the best players in the world, against the best teams. I do think and I believe we belong there, and I do think we have the quality to be competing, to win that trophy one day with the team we have, and I think why not this season? 

“Why not having a good start tomorrow against Bayern Munich, which is probably going to be the toughest opponent in our group. I’m looking forward to it, I’m really excited for it and glad for the team that we’re back on that stage.”

2. Players and staff are keen to put Sunday’s draw with Everton behind them

LW: “ I think after games like that, you just want to play again and show that you can do it better. I think we all know that we didn’t show up on that day the way we wanted but there is a new opportunity tomorrow. 

“Football is a quick business so things change in every moment, and I think we can turn it around tomorrow. Full focus on that and hopefully we get some chances in the net tomorrow.”

JE: “Yeah, it was frustrating. I think we as a team, we like to go forward, we want to show another version of ourselves and it’s an excellent opportunity tomorrow night to do that.”

3. Drawing on the experience of Arsenal’s last Champions League campaign, in 2022/23

JE: “I mean, I think we were playing in a similar group two seasons ago, when we had Lyon, Juventus, and FC Zurich. Both Lyon and Juventus were top teams in that group. And the first game, we started away against Lyon, and we managed to win 5-1, and it was really setting us up nicely. And then we won the group, which is a great way to go into the quarter-finals. So yes, it is really important to get results. 

“I think it's really important to get off to a good start, not only results-wise, but also performance-wise, because, as you mentioned before, we turned around that quarter-final against Bayern Munich at home, but I think we had a second half in that away game that really showed a nice performance where we were really brave and qualitative in a way that we played. And I think that filled us with a lot of belief for what we needed to do and what we needed to turn around at Emirates. 

“So we know it's going to be a difficult game tomorrow, but we need to trust in the way that we play. We need to be a brave football team that trusts our strengths. And if we can do that, I know we're going to be proud of our performance tomorrow.”