DEAL WITH IT – Can Lyonnes overturn Wolfsburg’s lead?
Ingrid Engen and Jule Brand spoke to the press ahead of OL Lyonnes’ second-leg quarter-final against VfL Wolfsburg in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) next Thursday. Roos Schelen was there to hear from them for The New Women’s Sport Magazine.
OL Lyonnes’ 30 match winning streak was ended by VfL Wolfsburg in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) last Tuesday, when the German team beat the French giants 1-0. Ingrid Engen thinks that losing is part of football. “I think that it’s not normal… that you win every single game,” she says.
She continues: “In the season, you can have a loss. We have got that now. And I think that everything is about how we deal with it, how we react to it. I think that we are calm in this situation.”
Wolfsburg’s threat in front of goal mainly came from counter attacks. They managed to score in the 13th minute when Vivien Endemann picked up the ball in midfield and managed to square it to on running Lineth Beerensteyn. The latter scored, with a deflection off her national team mate Damaris Egurrola. Engen thinks the team could have done better to mitigate the threat on the transition from the She Wolves:
“Analysing Wolfsburg also, they are a very direct team. We knew that they were going to go for the transitions. I think it’s not only about the high line. I think it’s about everything we do to win back the ball as fast as possible.
“Be in the right positions so we can avoid these kind of transitions. So this is something we look to improve. And the line needs to be ready for these threats for sure. But you already see in the second half that with better positions, we improve on this and we’re definitely going to keep on working on it.”
If Lyonnes manage to eliminate Wolfsburg in next week’s return tie, they would play either Arsenal or Chelsea. Brand says her mind is not in London yet: “I think we all saw the result. But we look step by step. We have an important game on Thursday. That’s our focus. We have to beat Wolfsburg and then after we look what the next step is.”
OL Lyonnes are coached by Jonatan Giráldez, who coached FC Barcelona to two UWCL titles. On his winning teams? Ingrid Engen.
Engen speaks highly of Giraldez: “He has a great winning mentality, no matter what game it is. I think that’s something that brings out the best in the team, if it’s even a league game, if it’s a Cup game, if it’s Champions League. He manages to show the passion and we really want to be perfect in everything we do. It’s impossible to be perfect all the time, but we want to strive for that kind of achievements in every game. It’s important for us also coming into the Champions League now, being able to perform at the highest level.”
Jule Brand played for the She Wolves for three years, moving to OL Lyonnes in the summer of last year. Asked which former team mate she was most excited to come up against, she doesn’t single out one player. She says: “I would say all of them. It was nice to play against them.”
The versatile winger, who can play on both sides of the striker, doesn’t single out a single preferred position either, when asked. “No, I wouldn’t say I have a preference. I like both sides. It depends on the game, which side the coach sees me, and then I try to do a good game and help the team.”
This year’s UWCL final is played in Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadium, in Engen’s home country. She tells the press that it is on the back of her mind, however, she doesn’t want to get ahead of reality too much.
“You need to take every game at a time, really. And we’re obviously going to do everything to reach that final, and that will be very special. But I try to focus on the quarterfinal now and we take it from there.”
For information on where to watch the UWCL in your area, please visit: https://wheretowatch.uefa.com/
Photos: UEFA/Getty Images
