STILL LEARNING – Lia Wälti on leadership, young players and hierarchy at Juventus

Lia Wälti sat down with the media ahead of Juventus’ trip to Bayern Munich on matchday two of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

32-year-old midfielder Lia Wälti transferred to the Italian side at the end of the summer transfer window having won last season’s competition with Arsenal.

Wälti has captained Switzerland many times, including throughout this summer’s Euros tournament. She also wore the armband a fair amount back in North London and reflected on her leadership role at her new club.

Speaking to The New Women’s Sport Magazine, she said: “I think it’s important that I bring my experience, but at the same time, respect the hierarchy and the club as well.

“The players who have been here a long, long time, I can also learn a lot from.

“But of course they do ask a lot, and I can give my opinion and my experience to them to help the team grow and improve.

“Of course, with the young players, it’s always something really nice if you’re a bit more experienced.

“You can see them being so talented, and if I can help them on their journey, it doesn’t matter if I’m a new player or not, I want to help them grow.

“It’s something natural in me. I’m a person who likes to take responsibility, so it’s hard to take that away no matter where I am.”

Wälti’s Juventus started their UWCL campaign positively with a 2-1 win over Benfica, and they will now face Bayern Munich who come off the back of a tough 7-1 defeat to last year’s runners up, Barcelona.

She spoke about how these starts may impact the teams.

She said: “I think it takes away some pressure for us, I would say. “I know that it also adds pressure for Bayern Munich, they have the ambitions to go in the top four in this new way of competition [the league phase].

“It’s nice to start with a win always, and I think it’s really hard mentally to come out of a game like Bayern Munich had, and we all know how hard it is to play against Barcelona.

“I think they’ll want to do everything to get their first three points, so we need to be ready for that.”

Juventus take on Bayern Munich away on Thursday at 20:00 UK time.

Watch every match of the UEFA Women’s Champion League, live on Disney+ as part of existing customer subscriptions.