“Stars in their eyes”: Paris FC in Madrid to continue dreaming in the Women’s Champions League

Arsenal, Chelsea, Madrid… The Champions League allows the girls of Paris FC to discover some of the highlights of European football. “Real is obviously a club that lights up stars in people’s eyes. When we arrive here, in this training center, and we see all these cups, it represents what this club means. We have to live up to it. Real Madrid is a club that represents a lot among boys. Less among girls. But they have more experience than us in this competition,” smiles Sandrine Soubeyrand, whose press conference did not arouse much interest on the Spanish side (only one media outlet, French, was present) this Tuesday.

After the grandeur of Stamford Bridge at Chelsea, the match will be played in the more confidential setting of the Alfredo Di Stefano stadium which can hold 6,000 spectators. There will therefore be fewer spectators than during the first confrontation between the two teams on Thursday in Charléty (10,693). Thanks to its victory (2-1), Paris FC, which had been beaten by Häcken (1-2) and Chelsea (1-4) recovered perfectly. “We come with a lot of desire and ambition,” continues Sandrine Soubeyrand. We know that we have to take points for the next matches to be decisive. »

“We now know what the Champions League level is”

Sunday, Paris FC, with seven changes in the starting lineup, lost (1-2) during the clash against PSG. We must therefore see how the group will manage the sequence of matches on a physical and emotional level. “The matches come one after the other but we are happy to play every three days,” said Clara Mateo. We adopted this rhythm of stringing together high-intensity matches. Since Sunday evening, everything has been focused on recovery for this match at Real. I think we recovered well. We have a group that learns quickly. We now know what Champions League level is. We saw him against Real where he had a very good match. »

Sandrine Soubeyrand, who was seen very upset after the match against PSG, believes “that we must use this match to continue to grow”. “It’s not the same competition but a match against PSG is at Champions League level. We saw that we were capable of competing with a team like that. But between being able to compete and winning, that’s the difference that separates us from them. I want us to learn quickly. But I have a young and playful group. I want us to continue to take risks in the game.” Paris FC will be complete and should present themselves with their typical team.