Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall expects “phenomenal” captain Kim Little to prove inspirational in her side’s bid to reach the Champions League semi-finals.
The Gunners are all square with Wolfsburg after last week’s first leg ended 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium and Little will lead Eidevall’s side in the return leg at the Volkswagon Arena on Thursday.
Eidevall said: “She is phenomenal. The standards she puts on herself every day, it’s phenomenal to see and training yesterday was no exception and I don’t think the game tomorrow will be an exception.”
🔴🦸♀️ @lottewubbenmoy to the rescue for @ArsenalWFC in the quarter-final first leg!— UEFA Women’s Champions League (@UWCL) March 28, 2022
Little, who scored 59 goals in 140 appearances for Scotland before retiring from international football last September, made her Champions League debut for Hibernian in 2006/7.
She is in her second spell at Arsenal following stints in America with Seattle Reign and in Australia with Melbourne City.
Eidevall said: “Kim Little is a legend, period. She’s a legend in the Champions League, she’s a legend at Arsenal, she’s a legend in the Women’s Super League and in the Scottish national team.
“She shows it week in, week out. She’s the best example that I have come across of a player who leads by example.”
⏩ 𝗙𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗 ⏩— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) March 26, 2022
Arsenal last reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2013 when they lost 4-1 on aggregate to Thursday’s opponents. Little scored for the Gunners in a 2-1 second-leg defeat.
The Londoners, knocked off top spot in the Women’s Super League by Chelsea at the weekend, are chasing trophies on three fronts.
They play Chelsea in the Women’s FA Cup on April 17, but Eidevall made clear the Champions League remains a top priority.
He added: “It’s very hard to reach the semi-finals in the most prestigious club tournament, but this is where we want to be, these are the games we want to play and prove ourselves in.
“Of course it’s nine years ago since the club were last there playing and I think it was Wolfsburg who they were playing.
“We know it’s going to be hard, but like I said before I 100 per cent believe it’s possible for us.”
The Gunners will be without suspended forward Beth Mead against the German two-time winners, while Eidevall kept his team selection close to his chest.
