Arsenal had to believe in themselves for UWCL semi-final comeback

FROM VOLKSWAGEN ARENA – Arsenal miraculously came from behind amid injury crisis to give them all to play for in the second leg of their Women’s Champions League semi-final.

While going 2-0 down in the space of five first half minutes was not the way Arsenal would have wanted to begin their UWCL semi-final campaign, their ability to turn the game around proved pivotal in keeping their chances of a first European final in 16 years alive.

Arsenal set up for a strong Wolfsburg attack with Jonas Eidevall opting for a central back three, bringing in Jen Beattie alongside Lotte Wubben-Moy and Rafaelle after a gaping hole was left by the recent ACL injury to England skipper, Leah Williamson.

Williamson was the third Arsenal star to do the dreaded ACL, after Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema tore theirs earlier on in the season. Arsenal have a plethora of injury-stricken players including the recent omission of Caitlin Foord and Kim Little, whose absence until the start of next season because of a hamstring problem was confirmed last week.

Wolfsburg set a high press on Arsenal as the pressure began mounting on the travelling north London side as Stina Blackstenius tried to exploit the space behind ex-Gunners defender Dominique Janssen but they lacked quality moving into the final third.

With injuries plaguing their starting XI, Arsenal had to adapt their tactics, swinging ex-Wolfsburg player Noelle Martiz and Australian full-back Steph Catley in and out of midfield to counter the control and aggression Lena Oberdorf and former Arsenal star Jill Roord brought to the German side.

Arsenal’s inability to move bodies back quick enough allowed Sveindis Jonsdottir to thread the ball through to Ewa Pajor and steal the opener, in such clinical fashion that the side has come to expect from the Polish striker who registers the most goals in the UWCL this season.

Wolfsburg were frankly gifted their second as a sloppy mistake from Rafaelle played a pass straight to Jonsdottir lurking in the box who slotted the ball past Manuela Zinsberger to double their lead. The last time Arsenal reached a UWCL semi-final was 2012/13 when they were knocked out by – you guessed it – Wolfsburg, and it looked like the same might happen again here.

With lacking communication between the backline, Little and Williamson’s leadership was clearly missing as the Gunners struggled defensively, allowing the home side’s wing backs to get in behind.

Frida Maanum had been kept relatively quiet in…