Arsenal boss weighs in as women's team booted out of Emirates Stadium for the men

Interim Arsenal women’s head coach Renee Slegers has downplayed the significance of their Champions League fixture being moved from the Emirates Stadium to Meadow Park, labelling it a “bump in the road”.

The switch was made necessary by a scheduling conflict with the men’s team, who are set to play Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on December 18, the same day as the women’s clash with Bayern Munich.

With Tottenham facing Manchester United the following night, and Crystal Palace’s tight schedule, the Emirates became unavailable for the women’s side, leading UEFA to grant “special dispensation” for the use of Meadow Park.

Slegers, reflecting on her time with Arsenal’s academy back in 2006, praised the club’s long-standing commitment to women’s footbal though as she said: “I was playing for Arsenal’s academy in 2006 so I know how big Arsenal has been, over a long time, at pushing women’s football.

“That was the reason why I came to England. So historically, I think Arsenal has been leading in pushing for women’s football developing and I think it will do that in the future as well.

“I think this was a bump in the road and it will always happen. It’s like player development. You won’t go in a straight line up. There will be challenges on the way.

“I think this is a challenge but I think we’re all very proud of what Arsenal tries to do to push women’s football forward.”

Slegers made these comments ahead of the upcoming Champions League match against Juventus on Thursday.

Despite a thumping 4-0 victory over the Italians last Tuesday, Arsenal’s second win in Group C, Slegers anticipates the return leg to be a “new challenge”.

Speaking ahead of the match, she stated: “I think we just have to stay in a moment and see what we have ahead of us. And obviously we analysed the away game against Juventus and they will do that as well.

“So it’s going to be a new challenge tomorrow. We’re one step further into the group phase and it’s a second game against each other.”

Slegers, who took the helm at Arsenal following Jonas Eidevall’s resignation in October, has led the team through five wins and a draw across all competitions, instilling a strong sense of confidence within the squad.

Defender Emily Fox explained: “Right now, we’re all very confident in each other and ourselves. And I think with the entire team, we feel together.

“Each game has been very difficult and we’ve been learning from each and really finishing our chances and learning from the hiccups at the beginning of the season.

“And I think with just the variety of games and opponents that we’ve played, it’s given us more confidence in the sense that we can deal with anything.”