Key events
4 min No chances to speak of but Arsenal have started really well. Smith’s cross is turned behind for the first corner of the game…
1 min Peep peep! We’re under way in Lisbon and Arsenal are already zipping the ball around with confidence.
“Some things to like in the Arsenal lineup, but also some things to fret over,” says Charles Antaki, inadvertently capturing the defailt emotional setting of the association football fan. “Good to see Taylor Hinds on from the start; she’s less, er, combative than Katie McCabe but seems to have more zip about her at the moment. Kyra Cooney-Cross in midfield will please a lot of fans who want a bit more oomph in that department. Delighted to see Lotte Wubben-Moy back in, of course; but it only underscores the fact that Leah Williamson is still very much out and very much missed. And at the back of it all there is the crisis–murmur. So a thoroughly convincing win, please.”
Full time: Atletico Madrid 0-1 Man Utd
As the players line up for the anthems in Lisbon, a quick note on a very hard-fought victory for Manchester United in Madrid. Yara El-Shaboury has more.
Renee Slegers’ pre-match thoughts
[On returning to Lisbon] They’re great memories – we’re staying at the same hotel – but we start from scratch and we’re very focussed on the here and now.
[On her team selection] We’ve played a lot of games in this block. There are always a lot of things that go into the decisions but the the main one is the quality we have in the squad.
Every game is a must-win for us, that’s how we see it. We have big belief in who we are and what we do. We’re looking forward to tonight.
Informative, passionate, entertaining. But enough about me and my prose, that’s also the tagline for Moving the Goalposts, our weekly women’s football newsletter. Here’s the latest edition.
Manchester United, who have been down to 10 players since before half-time, lead 1-0 against Atletico in Madrid. You can follow the last quarter of that game with Yara El-Shaboury.
Team news
Four changes for Arsenal from Sunday’s 1-0 win over Brighton. Lotte Wubben-Moy, Taylor Hinds, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Beth Mead come in for Katie Reid, who is injured, Katie McCabe, Frida Maanum and Caitlin Foord.
Benfica’s team includes Carolina Tristao, making her full debut at the age of S-I-X-T-E-E-N.
Benfica (possible 4-3-3) Pauels; Amado, Gomes, Ucheibe, Lund; Tristao, Cameirao, Gasper; Alves, Diana Silva, Moller.
Subs: Rute Costa, Prat, Joana Silva, Martin-Prieto, Almeida, Carole Costa, Engesvik, Martins, Pauleta, Davidson, Boeckmann, Guedes.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Van Domselaar; Fox, Wubben-Moy, Catley, Hinds; Little, Cooney-Cross; Smith, Caldentey, Mead; Russo.
Subs: Codina, McCabe, Maanum, Kelly, Foord, Pelova, Nighswonger, Blackstenius, Harwood, Liddiard.
Referee Miriama Bockova (Slovakia).
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of Benfica v Arsenal in the WCL. Arsenal’s Champions League defence got off to a false start last week with a 2-1 defeat at home to Lyon; and while it’s too early to talk of must-win games, they’ll be keen to get up and running tonight in Lisbon’s Estadio Jose Alvalade – the ground on which they beat Barcelona in last season’s final.
It won’t be straightforward against a Benfica side who have won five Portuguese titles in a row. They also started this season’s competition with a 2-1 defeat, in their case away to Juventus. But unlike Arsenal, Benfica don’t have much pedigree in this tournament – at least not yet. Their best run, two seasons ago, ended with a 6-2 aggregate defeat to Lyon in the quarter-finals.
Benfica, and Portuguese football more generally, will want to make a dent in the competition as soon as spossible. Victory over the reigning champions would be a nice place to start.
Kick off 8pm
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