Arsenal Women will face Europe’s ‘gold standard’ when Lyon visit Emirates Stadium on Thursday | Football News

Arsenal defender Steph Catley has hailed Thursday’s Champions League opponents Lyon as the “gold-standard” across Europe.

Lyon, who lifted the 2021/22 trophy at the Juventus Stadium in May, have won their last two Champions League fixtures to sit second in Group C, three points behind Arsenal, but lost to domestic rivals Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.

They have recovered from a slow start to their European defence to move above Juventus in the group, after opening the group with a shock 5-1 defeat to the Gunners and a draw at Juventus, before earning a pair of wins in a double-header against FC Zurich.

Catley, who started the game in France at centre-back, maintains her team-mates will be fully prepared to tackle a Lyon side out to make amends for that embarrassing loss.

“They are another incredible team and I can’t imagine that they would let that (result) happen again that easily, so are ready for anything,” the Australian said.

“They are the gold standard – winning something like the Champions League that consistently (shows) they are doing something right.

“Lyon are always signing incredible players, they come together as a team and are very, very hard to beat.

“They are one of those teams that when they are not having a great night, they still figure out a way to win.”

Anything other than defeat will ensure Arsenal’s safe passage to the quarter-finals, and likely as group winners. Manager Jonas Eidevall accepts there can be a sense of complacency as Arsenal aim to progress.

“[The 5-1 win] was a combination of both a very good performance, but we also scored at very good times in the game, everything aligned that night,” the Swede said.

“It was beautiful to be a part of, but we can’t really hold on to that forever, so it is a new performance tomorrow and we need to be ready for that.

“We know that we can achieve qualification, we can win the group tomorrow and that’s huge for us. We are going to do our very best in trying to achieve that.”

Eidevall is full of respect for what Lyon, eight-time winners of the elite European tournament, have achieved.

“They were very early pioneers in investing in the women’s game on a truly professional level,” he said.

“They have been the club that has been setting the standards for all others to chase and are the reigning European champions.

“We have the utmost respect for their history and for their team. We know it is going to require an incredible performance for us in order to get the result we like.”

Gunners captain Kim Little has returned to training from a knee problem, but may not be risked, while forward Lina Hurtig should be available following her own recent injury lay-off.

How friendly can you be with your opposition?

Arsenal’s Jen Beattie and Everton’s Izzy Christiansen discuss the difficult balance between friendship and rivalry in women’s football with former Lioness Rachel Yankey on Three Players and a Podcast.

The setting for the recent WSL game between Manchester United and Aston Villa was Old Trafford and saw players from both teams socialising ahead of the game at the famous ground.

The new Sky Sports podcast – in which three women’s football stars talk discuss three hot topics – started with the question ‘is there rivalry in the women’s game?’