Duisburg advantage 'very, very tiny'

FCR 2001 Duisburg coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg admitted the European titleholders have only "a very, very tiny advantage" after their 1-0 UEFA Women's Champions League semi-final first-leg defeat of 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam on Sunday.

Femke Maes struck from distance in the first half to give Duisburg a lead to take to their German rivals next Sunday, in a game of few chances between familiar opponents who had already met twice in domestic fixtures in recent weeks, both also resulting in one-goal home wins. Voss-Tecklenburg, whose team won the former UEFA Women's Cup on their debut last season, knows Duisburg are far from guaranteed a place in the 20 May final in Getafe against Olympique Lyonnais or Umeå IK.

"We are not going to believe that we have already achieved something; we will concentrate on the return leg now," she said. "Not everything will work out against such strong opposition. The two teams are at the same level, they know each other very well, they anticipate their opponents' moves, so it's not that easy. We could have played a bit more calmly in some situations, but there is no use talking about this now. We have a very, very tiny advantage now, but I had already said that this tie will be decided next week in Potsdam."

Potsdam coach Bernd Schröder, whose team won the UEFA Women's Cup in 2004/05, was frustrated as his usually prolific attack was blunted for a second 1-0 loss at Duisburg eight days after their German Cup semi-final exit. "They scored their goal from a half chance," he said. "We played much better than last week, we controlled most of the game and we had the best chances. But it is goals that matter in football. Our problem is that we have once more not scored despite having the best attack in the league. This will give them a boost, going to Potsdam without having conceded, but they still face a stiff task. Duisburg's position is now better than ours, but the result counts only after two legs."

Schröder's feelings were shared by Potsdam's former Duisburg playmaker, Fatmire Bajramaj. "We were the better side today, but that does not count in the end," the German international said. "In the end it is goals that count and that's where we were lacking today. I feel in the cup we deserved to lose, but not today. Everything is wide open for the return leg. This does not pull us down. This only gives us extra motivation for the second leg."