Joe Montemurro will return to North London on Saturday 19 April for the first leg of the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final, which will see his Lyon side take on Arsenal at Emirates Stadium. It’s a special fixture for the Australian, who coached the Gunners between 2017 and 2021.
Reflecting on the differences between his time at Arsenal and the present-day side, the 55-year-old quipped: “It’s a different Arsenal, it’s a more substantial Arsenal. If you want to put it this way, they’ve got an amazing squad – a very good squad – and even from a staffing perspective, it’s great to see that they’ve really invested well in the programme and in the overall women’s team.”
“Obviously, now the game’s grown and Arsenal’s grown with it, so it’s definitely a team that is one of the powerhouses of Europe. I’m looking forward to a really exciting day on Saturday. Obviously we know about the crowd and we know about the Arsenal supporters and what they’ve done for the team, and we’re looking forward to a fantastic game,” he explained when speaking to the media on Tuesday.
The Australian, who took the reins at Lyon at the start of the 2024/25 season, spoke highly of the French club’s prestige in this competition, and explained that “as soon as you walk into the place, you just feel it. You feel the culture of high performance. You feel the culture of being the best. And to be honest, we see it every day. We see it in every session. Every session is so competitive. Every session, everyone wants to be better. It’s just the standards that it’s created. It’s created a standard of being the best.”
“It’s difficult to explain unless you’re here. You walk in and you walk up the stairs and you just see all the accolades and awards that they’ve won. And it just makes you feel that you’re in an environment that is about winning at the highest level and being at the best and being at the best every day. And I love it. I love it from that perspective.”
Montemurro is well acquainted with Arsenal boss Renée Slegers, having previously mentored the former Dutch international as part of a UEFA programme. On her success since replacing Jonas Eidevall, Montemurro quipped: “She is a perfect fit for Arsenal at the moment. She really has brought back a level of that belief in the squad and who they are, and it’s probably a reflection of her.”
“She’s very confident in what she does. She’s very strategic in how she goes about things, and I’m so happy for her. I’m so happy for her that she was given the opportunity and took the opportunity because it’s a very big job. But she seems to be handling it well, so I must have taught her well,” he added.
The pair will meet once again at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday 19 April, with the first leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final kicking off at 12:30 BST [13:30 CEST].