Eidevall ‘confident and optimistic’ ahead of Arsenal’s UWCL second leg tie against BK Häcken

Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall says that he is confident and optimistic about the club’s chances of reaching the UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage.

The Gunners are 1-0 down against BK Häcken after the first leg of their Round 2 tie. Arsenal must overcome that deficit in the second leg at the Mangata Pay UK Stadium Meadow Park to reach the group stage.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Arsenal boss Eidevall was upbeat about his side’s chances of reaching the last-16.

“I’m responsible for the team’s results,” Eidevall said. “I am very confident and optimistic about our chances this season. We go into the game with really high motivation and we are going to do everything in our power to overturn it.

“We know that whatever action we do, we will have a North Bank that will probably double that effort for us and that’s going to make for a really nice atmosphere.”

Arsenal dominated the ball and created more chances against BK Häcken in the first leg at the Bravida Arena in Gothenburg but they failed to make the breakthrough against a well-organised opponent. Eidevall says that his side need to dictate again and that The Gunners are prepared for a flexible BK Häcken game plan.

He said “They did a little bit of everything when we played them last time. We forced them into a low block the longer the match went on. 

“We know that they’re a team with good tactical understanding, they’re tactically flexible. They can play in different formations, different ways; they’ve shown that when we’ve seen how they’ve changed between the domestic league and Champions League. As a team, they’ve been more successful in the Champions League than in the domestic league and that comes down to them being good at executing specific game plans.

“We are prepared for a game where they could have a lot of different approaches. What we are focusing on is our performance and what we need to do. We understand that what we do will shape a lot of what they’re going to do.”

Eidevall went on to say that Arsenal must qualify for the group stage and that any other outcome will be seen as failure.

He said “If we don’t qualify, we consider that [a failure]. Our ambition is to get into the group stage and that’s what we need to do.”

Arsenal’s UEFA Women’s Champions League Round 2, second leg tie against BK Häcken kicks-off at 7.30pm on Thursday evening. Limited tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.