Arsenal qualifying for WCL quarter-finals feel surreal, says Slegers

Renee Slegers says it feels 'surreal' that Arsenal have secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with two games to go.

The Gunners finish at least second in Group C after Lina Hurtig's late goal secured a 1-0 win over Juventus on Thursday.

What looked like a frustrating encounter was turned around by Slegers' substitutions, and after missing a glorious chance, Hurtig was ultimately the difference for the Emirates.

Arsenal scored 3.69 expected goals (xG) from nine shots and put three on target, compared to just 0.5 for Juventus, who tested Daphne van Domselaar just as often.

Slegers was impressed by the resilience of her team as they tried to come away with all three points.

“It's surreal to be honest,” Slegers said after the match. “I never had the feeling that we would end up in this situation. We did very well.

'I was part of Jonas [Eidevall’s] staff and so much was built in his time. I don't want to separate that. There is so much we are still building on. It's surreal in many ways, but we're very happy.

“I'm just happy that the team is winning. Obviously we have great depth in the squad, and we know that anyone can do it for us – whether they are starting players or finishing players.”

“It's the visualization of how much everyone contributes on the team. I think that's what it means for us.”

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Slegers took over as interim manager following the departure of Jonas Eidevall last month and has gone unbeaten in her first seven games, winning six and drawing one.

They have won each of their last five matches in all competitions and have not conceded a goal in their previous four matches.

“It was just a very impressive block from the team,” Slegers said. “We only conceded one goal this entire block, so we were very solid defensively.

“The players have taken a big step forward, they own this system; we've been trying to give it back to them all the time so we could give them ownership.

“I'm just really happy with how the block has been, with different challenges along the way, so all the games have asked something different of us. We responded very well to that, holding on to our identity but also by playing the game in front of us. from us.”