Duisburg promise fans a final night to remember

FCR 2001 Duisburg may head into the home leg of the UEFA Women's Cup final against Zvezda-2005 on Friday evening with the trophy seemingly won but the German side have vowed to put on a show for the biggest crowd ever to watch one of their matches.

Six-goal lead
Duisburg won 6-0 in Russia last Saturday meaning Zvezda, whose coach Aleksandr Grigoryan stepped down this week, will have to pull off an unprecedented comeback to win the meeting between these two first-time entrants. However, that has not halted ticket sales at the German city's main MSV Arena with 22,000 already gone, approaching the competition record 27,640 that watched Duisburg's rivals 1. FFC Frankfurt beat Umeå IK 3-2 12 months ago. And Duisburg captain Inka Grings said: "I promise the fans that it will be an unforgettable event."

'Breakthrough'
The club's last major honour was the 1999/00 German title, and coach Martina Voss – whose side look set to match the achievement of compatriots 1. FFC Frankfurt and 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam in winning the UEFA Women's Cup at the first attempt – is aware of the scale of their feat. "It is hard to describe what this means to us," Voss said. "It is an international breakthrough, and for me it is impressive to see what has happened. We have finished second in so many things and to win this trophy at our first attempt is something we didn't expect but we have deserved it, we played very well in the first leg."

Positive
Voss has defender Linda Bresonik suspended but other than Annemiek Griffioen facing a late fitness test should have a full side to pick from, with Grings – after a first-leg hat-trick – only two goals away from matching the UEFA Women's Cup seasonal record of 14 set in 2004/05 by Potsdam's Conny Pohlers and equalled this season by Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir for Valur Reykjavík. "We will attack as much as we did in the first leg and try to show our ability again," Voss said. "We expect a closer and much more exciting match."

Coach departure
Zvezda team manager Stanislav Kharitonov has taken over from Grigoryan on a caretaker basis, and has forward Olesya Kurochkina suspended. On Grigoryan's exit, Kharitonov said: "We were not totally surprised. He had already said that he wanted to step down before the final, that he wants to coach a men's team."

'Everything is fine'
Whatever the result, Zvezda will enter the new UEFA Women's Champions League next season having won the 2008 Russian title, with Duisburg also to gain entry assuming they do lift the last UEFA Women's Cup. As for Zvezda's chance of entering the new competition as European champions, Kharitonov admitted: "Our chances are very remote considering the result of the first leg. But we will give our all in order to show what we can do. The flight was long, but we are used to it. We have arrived in good shape and everything is fine."