Wolfsburg vs Arsenal Women's Champions League facts
Monday, March 28, 2022
Article summary
Wolfsburg host Arsenal at their men's stadium after the Gunners struck late to draw the first leg 1-1.
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There is nothing between Wolfsburg and Arsenal, who are level at 1-1 as they both aim for a seventh UEFA Women's Champions League semi-final appearance.
• Lotte Wubben-Moy's 89th-minute equaliser for Arsenal cancelled out tournament top scorer Tabea Wassmuth's 19th-minute opener in the first leg at the Arsenal Stadium on 23 March.
• The Frauen-Bundesliga club have reached this stage for a tenth campaign in a row – a competition best – although they fell at this hurdle to English opposition last season, losing 2-1 away and 3-0 at home to eventual finalists Chelsea.
• This is the She-Wolves' 79th UEFA Women's Champions League match, overtaking 1. FFC Frankfurt's German record. Wolfsburg have won 55 matches in this competition – a figure bettered by only Lyon (94) and Arsenal (56).
• Two-time winners Die Wölfinnen finished top of Group A in a three-way head-to-head with Juventus and eliminated Chelsea, recording emphatic home victories against Servette (5-0) and Chelsea (4-0) either side of a 2-0 loss to Juve.
• Arsenal, whose journey in this season's tournament began in round 1, have made it to a record 14th quarter-final. The 2006/07 winners are aiming for a first semi-final appearance since 2012/13, when they were beaten by Wolfsburg (0-2 h, 1-2 a).
• Jonas Eidevall's side have already lost on German soil this season, going down 4-1 at Hoffenheim in their final Group C match on 15 December.
Ones to watch: Wolfsburg
Alexandra Popp
• The 30-year-old's first-leg appearance was her 82nd in the UEFA Women's Champions League, moving her into second place behind Lyon's Wendie Renard (98).
• Popp made her comeback from injury in the 4-1 Frauen-Bundesliga win against Freiburg on 6 March having been sidelined with a knee issue since April 2021.
• The German international is a three-time winner of this competition having been part of the FCR 2001 Duisburg side that triumphed in the 2008/09 UEFA Women's Cup.
• The forward's 47th-minute goal sparked Wolfsburg's comeback from 2-0 down against Tyresö FF in the 2014 final, the She-Wolves eventually triumphing 4-3.
Jill Roord
• The 24-year-old hit two goals in the 4-1 Frauen-Bundesliga victory at Eintracht Frankfurt on 26 March, taking her to a club-high nine league goals this season.
• The midfielder joined Wolfsburg in May 2021 after two seasons with Arsenal, where she hit successive Women's Super League hat-tricks in the space of six days in September 2020.
• Roord was named Player of the Match after scoring in the 3-0 away win against Servette on 8 December, and was also on target against Arsenal's domestic rivals Chelsea on Matchday 1.
• The Dutch international has won European Championships at both Under-19 (2014) and senior level (2017), and struck four goals in the Netherlands' UEFA Women's EURO 2022 qualifying campaign.
Tabea Wassmuth
• The attacking midfielder was named Player of the Match in the first-leg draw, winning the award for the third time this season, more than any other player.
• The 25-year-old's goal against the Gunners was her ninth in this season's UEFA Women's Champions League, more than any other player in the competition proper.
• Wassmuth has scored in all but two of her European appearances this season including qualifying, drawing a blank only against Bordeaux on 1 September and Juventus on 18 November.
• The German international is hoping to emulate Zsanett Jakabfi (2016/17) and Pernille Harder (2018/19) by finishing top of the UEFA Women's Champions League scoring charts with Wolfsburg; both Jakabfi and Harder struck eight goals in those seasons.
Ones to watch: Arsenal
Vivianne Miedema
• The 25-year-old spent three seasons with Bayern München, winning successive Frauen-Bundesliga trophies in 2014/15 and 2015/16 – with Wolfsburg runners-up in both campaigns, before they recovered to pip Miedema's side to the league title in 2016/17.
• The forward's goal gave Bayern a 1-0 first-leg lead against Paris Saint-Germain in the 2016/17 quarter-finals, although the French side won 4-0 in the return fixture.
• Miedema has twice been joint top scorer in this competition, scoring eight – along with Wolfsburg's Zsanett Jakabfi – in 2016/17 and ten in 2019/20.
• The Dutch international's last six Arsenal goals have come at home; she is without an away goal since finding the net in the 2-0 Women's Super League win at Manchester United on 21 November.
Nikita Parris
• The 28-year-old has two UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final goals to her name, including one against German opposition – scoring the opener in Lyon's 2-1 defeat of Bayern in August 2020.
• The forward scored four times in Lyon's run to the 2019/20 final but was suspended for the decisive 3-1 win against Wolfsburg.
• Arsenal's summer signing scored in the 4-0 Women's FA Cup defeat of Coventry United on 18 March, her first goal since the 5-1 win against HB Køge on 10 November.
• Three of Parris' five Gunners goals so far have come in this competition; she also scored in the qualifying rounds against Okzhetpes and Slavia Praha.
Lotte Wubben-Moy
• The 23-year-old struck the vital late equaliser in the first-leg draw against Wolfsburg.
• The centre-back has scored in her last two European appearances, heading Arsenal's second goal in their 3-0 Matchday 4 victory against HB Køge on 17 November.
• Wubben-Moy rejoined the Gunners in September 2020 after almost three seasons with American college side North Carolina Tar Heels.
• The English international – an Arsenal fan as a child – came through the club's youth system, making her debut aged 16 in July 2015.
Key stats
• Wolfsburg have won four of their previous five UEFA Women's Champions League matches against English clubs in Wolfsburg, drawing the other.
• Wolfsburg have lost only two of their previous 13 European matches against English clubs (W8 D3).
• The German club, however, have won only one of their last seven matches in the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-finals (D2 L4).
• Wolfsburg have failed to score in only two of their last 38 UEFA Women's Champions League matches.
• Arsenal have lost five of their six UEFA Women's Champions League away matches against German clubs (W1) and have won just three of 13 home and away overall (D2 L8).
• The Gunners are without a win in their last three UEFA Women's Champions League matches (D1 L2).
• Arsenal have failed to score in just one of their last 16 European fixtures.