Lyon players preview their Women's champions league quarter final first leg at Bayern Munich
17/03/2025
uefa25
17/03/2025
uefa25
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00:00It's a very exciting upcoming match, especially for us because it's a German team. It's a
00:29very tough game. We know that they have strong players in their squad, but we're very looking
00:36forward to this game, to this quarter-final. I think we can have a lot of friends and also
00:43family members coming over to see the game.
00:47What kind of tests would you expect from Bayern Munich? They have got some key players out
00:52injured for a while, the likes of Georges Stamwey, but how difficult of a game will
00:56it be?
00:58I think against German teams, it's always difficult because they have a good mentality
01:03and also are really good at tactics, defending well. Of course, Georges Stamwey, they will
01:12miss her because she's an outstanding player, but they have a good squad, also have got
01:17some new players in this transfer period, so I think they still have a really, really
01:22good squad. They are also a good team, so it will be a difficult game for us, but that's
01:29what we want in the Champions League. Only nice games, only nice clubs, big clubs, and
01:34that's the games we're looking forward to. Like Sarah said, for us, it's nice to be also
01:38at home, to see family and friends, and especially see some people from the club we played. That's
01:45also nice.
01:47Obviously, Lyon had a very, very strong start to the competition, topping your group with
01:51six wins from six. How much confidence does that give you going into the knockout stages
01:57against obviously top teams like Bayern Munich, but potentially either Real Madrid or Arsenal
02:03in the next round as well?
02:06Playing Champions League games in general is always very special, and I think we can
02:10say that we could be very happy about our group stage, about the games we've made in
02:14the group stage. Yes, it gives us confidence for the quarterfinals as well, but now we
02:22know it's a knockout game. It's always a different character of games. Like Laura said, it's
02:29going to be two very tight games, difficult games. It's about small details, and we want
02:36to win the games.
02:38Brilliant, thank you.
02:47Hi, thank you very much for your time. I just wanted to ask, obviously Lyon reached the
02:51final last season and have a rich history in this competition. On a personal level,
02:56how much would it mean for the two of you if you were to go on and lift the trophy at
02:59the end of the season?
03:02So much. I think I can talk for us both. It's a real goal for us to win the Champions
03:10League. Of course, with Lyon you always have a chance to win it, but you also do your homework.
03:18Like Sarah said, it will not be easy. In the quarterfinals, it's a knockout game. Little
03:23details count. Also, maybe the form of the day or how you are on this day is also important.
03:31We would be so happy if we could lift this trophy.
03:36It would mean a lot to go all the way, but as Laura said, it's still far and a difficult
03:43way to go. Now we're just focused on the quarterfinals and we're going to use the upcoming weeks
03:50to prepare the game very well.
03:53You said about seeing friends and family, going back to Bayern. Are there any players
03:58in particular that you're looking forward to coming up against?
04:02Yeah, I'd love to see the team because I think the team in Bayern is really special. I love
04:08to play there also because of the girls and I'm looking forward to see them. It's not
04:13one player, it's many and I think it's nice that it's many and not only I don't want to
04:20see this or that player. So I think I'm just happy to meet the team again.
04:25Perfect. Thank you very much.
04:28Awesome, thank you. We'll go to Tom.
04:35Thank you. Hello, how are you?
04:38Good, thanks. How are you?
04:39Good, thank you. You've scored more than three goals a game so far in the Champions
04:45League this season.
04:46Thank you for the question.
04:50Can you explain sort of why scoring in Europe seems to come so easy to Leon this season?
04:56Scoring goals?
04:58Yeah.
04:59I didn't get the question.
05:00Oh, sorry. You're averaging more than three goals a game as a team in the Champions League
05:04this season. I was just wondering how you guys find it almost so easy to score in European
05:10competition this season?
05:12Well, to be honest, it's not so easy but I think we had some very good games in the
05:18group stage and we could create a lot of opportunities but sometimes I still think
05:24there's still some things that we have to improve and sometimes we have the opportunities
05:33but we don't score enough. But like you said, I think in the group stage we used our
05:38opportunities well but I think it's also important in these games that are coming in
05:43the quarterfinals because the more difficult the games are getting, the less opportunities
05:50you get and then you have to get the best out of it.
05:54As of those 19 goals you scored in the...
05:58Boosh, Vanessa. Sorry, guys.
06:00Teammate is coming. Pardon.
06:03That's okay.
06:05We love you.
06:09Okay, so some little distractions.
06:11That's all right.
06:13Of the 19 goals you've scored in the group stage so far, 41% of those have been from
06:19set pieces. How much focus do you guys put on set pieces and how important are set pieces
06:25going to be as you get into the deeper stages of the competition?
06:31Yeah, of course. I think it's a big strength from us when you also see our players. We
06:35have also, because of the height, of course, with Wendy and also Vanessa Child, our defenders
06:42and also Lindsay Horan, we have a lot of good players that are really, really good with
06:47their head. Of course, it's a focus for us. We know every corner, every set piece is like
06:53a chance for us to score. We take it really serious and want to score hopefully more goals
07:00with our set pieces. Of course, we also train it in training. We practice it, some detailed
07:07set pieces also.
07:08Sometimes when the game is tight and you don't succeed to score in the game, it's also an
07:15opportunity to open up the game with a set piece, like either corner, free kick. It's very important
07:21to get the best out of the free kicks, corners and set pieces we have.
07:27Awesome. Thank you for that, guys. Good luck in the game. Cheers.
07:31Ciao.
07:32We'll go to Daniele next.
07:33Nice to meet you from Italy. I have two questions. The first one is about how was the difference
07:44between the last coaching staff of the last year with Sonia Bompastora and this year with
07:49Gio Montemurdo. We have something of Italian in the coaching staff with Patrizia. How is
07:58your relationship with that?
08:01Well, it was very nice to get to know the new coaching staff in summer. They are very
08:11nice, the Italian people. Yeah, they bring their experience, their ideas into our coaching
08:20team. I think it was very good for us as a team. Yeah, it's fun to work with them.
08:35I think they are really positive people, positive coaching team. For learning French,
08:40it's not that good because now everything is in English or Italian.
08:50No, but like Sarah said, it was a good transfer from the coaching teams. They did it well from
08:58the beginning and yeah, hope they can help us to win some titles this season.
09:07Sometimes you spoke in Italian or the only English with Patrizia, for example?
09:13Some words in Italian?
09:17Joe and Patrizia, for example, they talk in Italian. Sometimes they scream through the
09:23whole pitch and tell something nobody understands. Maybe it's also good for them.
09:27You are learning some words or nothing?
09:37That's good, that's good.
09:43Some small words, but yeah, when they talk to us, of course, they speak English.
09:48Thank you very much and good luck for the rest of the season.
09:58Hello guys, thank you. So, as German internationals, how would it feel to defeat
10:05a German opponent? Especially yourself, Laura, you are captain of Bayern. Does it make the
10:11victory sweeter or is it a kind of bittersweet emotion?
10:15What did you say? Captain?
10:18So, obviously, Laura, you are captain of Bayern for a while.
10:22I know, I wasn't the captain.
10:24Oh, sorry.
10:28How would it feel kind of to defeat?
10:31It's always special to play a former club. It was also when I played in Freiburg,
10:35go to Munich, play against Freiburg. It's always special because you play against friends.
10:39And you also know if you play against friends, you don't want to lose. You don't want to lose
10:45at all, but against friends, it's always more special, I think. For me, it's also kind of
10:51coming home because I played five years in Munich. So, I'm really happy, like I said,
10:55to see them all. But yeah, like we also said already, I think it will be a hard game for us,
11:00a tough game, but we're really looking forward to it.
11:03Yeah, we just want to win it.
11:06Yeah, I can imagine.
11:07And afterwards, we can be friends again.
11:10So, how is the general feeling in the Lyon dressing room now? It's obviously,
11:14everything is going really well, seven points ahead in the league, doing really well in Europe.
11:19And for a long time, Lyon were regarded as the best team in world football. Do you feel like
11:25that tagline would come back if you could get the Champions League again and win the
11:29domestic league this season?
11:31Yeah, I mean, this is our goal. When you play for the big Lyonnais, you want to win trophies
11:36and you want to win every game you're competing for. And the feeling in the locker room is great.
11:43I think we have a very, very nice team. Everybody can feel comfortable in the group. And this is
11:51also something I really love about this group. And it's also important to go out on the pitch
11:57and perform when you feel good. And, yeah, like the togetherness of a group.
12:02And this is also like a strong, strong factor that helps us on the pitch.
12:07Yeah, I can imagine. And then, Sarah, just a quick question for you.
12:12Almost every competition you've ever played in, you've managed to win,
12:16especially at domestic level. Does the Champions League kind of feel like that next natural piece?
12:22I mean, it would be a big dream coming true to go all the way and to compete in a final.
12:30But as I said before, I think there are very, yeah, there are big games that are ahead of us.
12:37So, of course, we can dream about going to the final. But first, we have to prepare the games.
12:42We have to win the quarterfinals now against Munich, because they are a difficult team.
12:49They're going to be very well prepared against us. They're going to give all they have. And so do we.
12:56And, yeah, I can say that we will give 100 percent to go to the next round and then
13:04hopefully go all the way. Perfect. Thank you very much,
13:07both, for your time and best of luck in the fixtures. You're welcome. Thank you.
13:11And then finally, we have Anne, please.
13:14Hi, guys. Thank you for your time. Yeah, for me, just two questions. Do you think that your
13:20experience in the German league and also in the French league will give you
13:25like a unique perspective to this matchup?
13:31Yes, of course. I think we know the German league, especially we know Bayern Munich.
13:34We played for them. So I think we have a good insight what we have to prepare for the next
13:42I think we have a good insight what we have to expect. I also tell the girls that it will be
13:47hard because I think it's also hard, always hard against German teams, like I said, because of
13:51mentality. They, like Sarah said, they will be well prepared. So, yeah, it's often said it's not
13:59an easy team. I don't know how much the insight will help us or like the feeling that we also
14:05played in the German league. So, yeah, but we were looking forward to play against them.
14:12Nice. Thank you. Yeah. And that was going to be my next question. Like, do you feel the sense
14:16of responsibility to share those insights with your current team now about Bayern Munich?
14:24Yes, of course. If I know some players from Bayern and they always have like kind of the
14:28same moves, of course, I will tell my teammates because I want them to win. So I try to help.
14:35And yeah, so maybe we can help with that. Yeah.
14:38Thank you. Thank you for your time.
14:42Fantastic. Thank you so much, everyone. So that's everyone's had
14:45their turn. If there's any final questions, feel free to shout out just now.
14:49Otherwise, we can wrap it there.
14:52I'd like to ask a quick question on the Frauenbundesliga if possible.
14:58Go ahead.
15:00Bofaz, German internationals, how exciting is it at the moment just to see how competitive
15:05the Frauenbundesliga is currently?
15:07Yeah, I mean, we are still following a bit the Bundesliga, of course, also from here.
15:15I'm trying to watch some games and when I see the table, it's exciting to see because
15:20the top four teams are very tight and it's a bit of open race, I think, until the end.
15:25So it's going to be interesting to see who will lift the trophy in the end.
15:30And I think it's getting more and more tight over there, which is nice to see from outside.
15:35Yeah, I just can agree.
15:42Thank you so much, everyone.
15:44If that's everything from everyone, I guess there's nothing left to say.
15:46But thank you so much to Sarah and Laura for your time and all the very best.
15:50Good luck for the quarterfinal.
15:57Thank you so much.