Renée Slegers hailed the “one club” atmosphere at Arsenal’s Sobha Realty Training Centre, as the Gunners prepare to host Olympique Lyonnais in the first leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final.
The clash comes just says after Mikel Arteta guided his men’s side past Real Madrid with an emphatic victory across both legs, with Slegers piling on the praise for their first-leg performance in particular.
“The way the men’s team executed that game as the first of two legs, that’s how we want to go and win this game tomorrow, and that was very inspiring to see,” she explained during her pre-match press conference on Friday.
“It was inspirational to watch, and I think how they’ve managed to go about these two legs is very positive and inspiring, so I’m very happy that they achieved what they achieved,” the former Dutch international continued.
“I think this is the first time in club history that we’re both in the semi-finals,” Slegers pointed out – and there’s still the potential for yet another coincidence, as both sides could come up against Barcelona in their respective finals.
The 36-year-old, who took over from Jonas Eidevall earlier this season – revealed an interaction she had with Jürrien Timber earlier on Friday, that is symbolic of the “one club” mentality Arsenal have built in recent years.
“There was just some media here at the club, and Jürrien Timber is sitting there and he says ‘Renée, good luck for tomorrow’ – so the guys also know what we are doing, we know what they are doing, and we support each other so it’s great.”
“I really feel like since I’ve come to the club that it’s one club. I’ve naturally been in contact with the assistant coach on the men’s side, because he’s Dutch. But after we won against Madrid [in the UWCL quarter-finals], I got messages from everyone across the club, including Mikel, and he said it was inspirational, and if you look at what they now did against Madrid, I think it’s so strong.”
Arsenal host Olympique Lyonnais in the first leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final at Emirates Stadium on Saturday 19 April, with kick-off at 12:30 BST [13:30 CEST].