What a difference just a few months can make for Arsenal.
Last season saw the Gunners make an impressive run to the semi-finals of the UEFA Women's Champions League, where they were unfortunately beaten by German outfit Wolfsburg by the narrowest of margins. However, because they finished in third place in the WSL, Jonas Eidevall's team were not given an automatic ticket to feature in this year's competition, and thus had to secure their spot in the tournament via series of play-off games.
After cruising to a comfortable 3-0 win over Swedish side Linköping, Arsenal were pitted against Paris in the finals, with the winner given a chance to play in another two-legged play-off tie to earn a spot in the gorup stages. Although they were the heavy favorites to progress, Arsenal's poor, and at times, shambolic defending cost them dearly, and despite goals from Jen Beattie and Alessia Russo late on in stoppages, Paris managed to hang on to push the game to penalties after it ended as a three-all draw.
Russo, who had netted twice during the match, ended up being one of two players to miss her spot kick which ended up as a 4-2 defeat for the English side. It will be a bitter result for the English international, who recently made the switch from Manchester United to Arsenal with the hopes of featuring regularly in the Champions League; ironically, her former club will be playing in the Champions League this season after finishing in second spot in the WSL.
Still, there are other opportunities for Arsenal to win some silverware this season, albeit they have been heavily hampered by injuries to key players like Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead. The Gunners won the League Cup last season, and will be involved in the FA Cup as well as, of course, the Women's Super League when that competition kicks off next month, with a home tie against Liverpool on October 1st.
Make sure you bookmark our special match page so as not to miss out on any of Arsenal's games this season.
