Slegers confident Arsenal can go all the way in Champions League after Bayern win

Arsenal interim head coach Renee Slegers insists her side can go all the way in the Women’s Champions League after they beat Bayern Munich 3-2 to top Group C.

Mariona Caldentey’s late penalty sealed victory for the Gunners, who needed to win the game in order to secure seeding in the quarter-finals.

Glodis Vigosdottir scored a first-half own goal before Alessia Russo added the hosts’ second in an evenly-matched game, and Slegers believes they can mix it with the best teams in Europe.

Of her team’s chances of reaching the final, Slegers told DAZN: “We need to have that belief, and we have that belief, especially after today.

“There are things we can do better in the game, but it was the same against Liverpool [1-0 win on Sunday]. We don’t play our best game, but still, we found ways to win and that is a sign of a top team.

“The eight teams that are going through will be top, top teams. It’s positive to see how women’s football has grown and the football being played.”

A BIG THREE POINTS TO CLOSE OUT 2024 pic.twitter.com/fSKZ7LNHQ1

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) December 18, 2024

The Bayern clash was played at Meadow Park, having been controversially moved from the Emirates Stadium due to a scheduling conflict with the men’s team, as they played Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup quarter-finals.

Slegers claims her side felt just as comfortable at the smaller venue, though, and wanted to concentrate on the game itself.

She said: “It’s so intimate playing here because you are so close to the fans.

“It felt like a home game definitely. The pitch was much smaller. We feel good playing here, we feel comfortable, and it was a good performance.”