HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF – Wolfsburg’s Lineth Beerensteyn is in the mood for goals
Netherlands striker Lineth Beerensteyn faces her former club Juventus when her current club Wolfsburg host them in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) this Thursday 12th February.
Beerensteyn spoke to the press ahead of the ‘Beerensteyn derby’ – including Roos Schelen for The New Women’s Sport Magazine.
Neither Wolfsburg or Juventus qualified directly for the quarter final stage and have to negotiate a playoff round in order to progress. But since they face each other, only one of the two will see the latter stages of the competition. For Lineth Beerensteyn this means either her team could be knocked out of the competition, or she knocks her former team out.
The New Women’s Sport Magazine asked Beerensteyn what it would be like for her to progress at the expense of Juventus.
“It’s always nice to play against your former teammates and your former club. But yeah, yeah, there’s only one of us two is gonna win. And if it’s not us, then it’s them. So if we are not beating them, they are beating us.
“In that kind of way there’s always of course a winner and a loser and yeah, in that way it’s still football. For me, of course at the end of this road, I hope it’s going to be us, that we are going to be the winner. But I still have a lot of respect for Juventus and may the best win,” says Beerensteyn.
Asked about the players to watch out for in Juventus’ team, Beerensteyn points out two of them, but doesn’t want to single them out.
“They have a lot of good players there, good squad, like quality players. And of course, a lot of experience as well. I mean, Girelli is one of the bigger names together with Bonansea as well. Two players with a lot of goals, with a lot of experience.
“And also in the Champions League they showed quite often how important they are for Juventus. So I would say the whole team, it’s a strong opponent for us as well,” she says.
Form
Beerensteyn has been in good form recently, with four goals scored in six UWCL matches for the She Wolves. She scored two against Manchester United in a thrilling 5-2 win at the Volkswagen Arena in November.
She also netted two goals in the Bundesliga against Köln at the start of this month. Injured at the end of last year, she confirms she is fit now. We asked Beerensteyn what she thinks she could exploit in Juventus’ play in order to score even more goals in the UWCL.
“If we are playing in the way we know we can and also the way we showed this Champions League season already, how we can play against the Champions League teams, also against the bigger clubs, if we find that rhythm to play in that way, then the chance is also going to be there for me.
“And I know in every game you always get one game more than the other, but you will always get a chance. And yeah, then you have to be ready for that. And that’s also one thing, what it’s like for me personally.
“I’m always really hungry for making goals and even if it’s one, I’m not done. I always want to continue and score more and more and that also makes me the player I am,” she continues.
Rhythm
Wolfsburg have been unlucky in their preparation for this match, as two of their Bundesliga games this calendar year have been postponed already, which means they only played one official match so far in 2026. Beerensteyn says it hasn’t been ideal, but the team have tried to make it work:
“It’s definitely not easy because we only had this year one official league game and for the rest, just training sessions. But I must say, during the training sessions, we did a lot of good stuff. We also played 11 against 11.
“We only had one official game, but we also played a lot against each other. So we could also build up the rhythm during practice. But yeah, it’s going to be different in a Champions League game, definitely,” says Beerensteyn.
Potentially good news for Wolfsburg supporters: Beerensteyn confirms that she’s currently in talks with the club to renew her contract, which expires at the end of this season. For now, fans can still see her in action.
The match between Wolfsburg and Juventus kicks off at 17:45 BST on Thursday. Watch every match of the UEFA Women’s Champion League, live on Disney+ as part of existing customer subscriptions.
Photos: UEFA
