Latest news with #VanDomselaar
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Arsenal XI vs Barcelona: Confirmed team news, predicted lineup, injury latest for Women's Champions League final
Renee Slegers has a couple of big decisions to make when naming the Arsenal team to face Barcelona in the Women's Champions League final. The first of which is who gets the nod in between the posts. Daphne van Domselaar returned from injury for the semi-final second leg victory against Lyon but hasn't featured since because of a niggling ankle issue. Van Domselaar has trained this week in a bid to prove her fitness ahead of the final and is expected to start, though Manuela Zinsberger is on standby to deputise once again, though she has conceded 12 goals in her last three appearances. Slegers confirmed ahead of the match that her squad has close to a perfect bill of health, saying: 'We have a great squad and a lot of players available. The only player not available tomorrow is Rosa Kafaji.' Chloe Kelly and Beth Mead are battling for a spot on the right-hand side of the attack. The pair have often rotated in this competition and that logic suggests the latter will be picked after Kelly started the second leg win over Lyon. The rest of Sleger's XI is fairly easy to predict. Women's Super League Player of the Year Mariona Caldentey is set to start in midfield against her former club, Leah Williamson lines up in defence, Alessia Russo leads the line and Kim Little captains the side. Predicted Arsenal XI: Van Domselaar; Fox, Williamson, Catley, McCabe; Maanum, Little, Mariona; Mead, Russo, Foord Injured: Rosa Kafaji Time and date: 5pm BST on Saturday May 24, 2025 How to watch: TNT Sports and DAZN Venue: Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Daphne van Domselaar: How crosswords became a vital part of Arsenal's pre-match preparations
Before Daphne van Domselaar and her team-mates left London for this Saturday's Women's Champions League final against Barcelona in Lisbon, there was something vital she had to pack. Her goalkeeper gloves? Her boots? No, much more important for the Arsenal 'keeper were her crosswords — and a pencil, of course, to ensure things don't get messy. Advertisement 'We have a ritual now of always bringing crosswords on the coach for away games, or if we're staying over somewhere,' Van Domselaar tells days before she and her team-mates have to figure out arguably the toughest puzzle in women's football: how to beat holders Barcelona in Europe's showpiece event? 'We can't go to a game without playing crosswords,' the 25-year-old, a self-confessed 'bit of a nerd', adds. The 'we' are fellow goalkeeper Naomi Williams and some of Arsenal's backroom staff. 'Even though we always have them here (at the training ground) so we never forget, I'm like 'S***, we forgot the crosswords' and have to run back in to get them. Against Lyon (in the semi-final), we were away for two days so we couldn't go without them. I said to security, 'Give me one minute, I need to go back, don't let the coach go'.' As she does the crosswords in her second language, Van Domselaar admits 20-year-old Londoner Williams is the better of the two, but that they make a good team when completing puzzles together. Transferring such teamwork from the page to the training pitch has been key to Van Domselaar having an impressive debut season in north London. Advertisement Arriving from Aston Villa in the summer after suffering a season-ending hip injury, the Dutch international had to wait until the end of September for her Arsenal debut, which came against Leicester City in the Women's Super League (WSL), a match the Gunners won 1-0. Though vying with Williams and the then-established No 1 Manuela Zinsberger for a starting spot, Van Domselaar has received support from both. 'When Manu came running to me at full-time on my debut away to Leicester, jumping in my arms, that's something I still remember really clearly,' she says. 'The first day I met Manu she said, 'If you need anything, I'll always help you, so reach out'. 'She just made me feel really comfortable. We matched quite well because she's really open. It's always hard to work with someone that is not playing because of you, and that's really clear as a goalkeeper, but we talk openly about that. If we know I'm playing, she will do anything to make me feel good enough. She'll give me her view of the game and on game days it's just a little bit extra to take care of me.' Advertisement Jonas Eidevall was still head coach when she signed, with Renee Slegers, who became permanent head coach in January, the team's individual development coach. 'Even when she wasn't head coach, she was always really encouraging,' Van Domselaar says of her compatriot. 'I was injured and she was saying, 'We have a lot of trust in you, but you should trust in yourself too. Be confident'. 'When she was named head coach, she gave me another level of confidence. She's so supportive and wants to get involved in your personal life in terms of who you are, where you're coming from, how you are as a person and why you act the way you do. She invests a lot of effort in being a coach but also someone you can go to.' The confidence Slegers instils in her players has been evident since she took interim charge in October. Advertisement Arsenal's comeback win at home over Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals stands out as one of the best examples of that. Still 2-0 down on aggregate at half-time of the second leg, one of Slegers' most consistent qualities shone through as Van Domselaar made one of her favourite saves of the season to keep her team level on the night before the break. 'If you look at her, she's a calm person,' Van Domselaar says. 'That calm gives us a lot of trust and confidence. She showed us we can be really good and we have to have confidence in ourselves to change the game. 'She showed us some clips (at half-time) and said, 'We're so close, just tweak this and you'll be fine. Believe in yourselves' and that calmness paid off within a minute of the second half. You could be like, 'Oh s***, we only have 45 minutes to score three goals' but she was the opposite.' Forty-one seconds after the restart, Alessia Russo put Arsenal ahead on the night. Mariona Caldentey's header levelled the tie three minutes later before Russo improbably put Arsenal 3-0 ahead on the night in the 59th minute and en route to the last four. Advertisement But Van Domselaar also played a crucial role in the team's progress. In added time, Real Madrid's Linda Caicedo was bearing down on goal and looked certain to force the match into extra time, only for Arsenal's goalkeeper, standing tall, to bat her shot away. Goal prevented, progress secured. That quarter-final tie also displayed how Van Domselaar's job has changed since she joined from Villa, a team which finished seventh in the WSL in the 2023-24 season, 26 points behind third-placed Arsenal. Playing a similar number of games for both teams (she played 15 times for Arsenal this season, 14 for Villa the season prior) she faced almost half the number of shots on target (42 to 81) and made significantly fewer saves (32 to 51) in Arsenal red. Such statistics are to be expected given the quality of the respective teams but, impressively, Van Domselaar finished the WSL season with the second-best shots-saved percentage in the league (81 per cent) and best clean-sheet-to-games-played ratio in the league (66.7 per cent). 'I like that you can be a hero a bit more here,' she says. 'It's important to be focused for 90 minutes to make that save in the last minute, but I enjoy being part of the play more than just being a goalkeeper. Advertisement 'I try to keep my mind on the game when I'm doing nothing, so I can still be somewhat involved even if it doesn't look like I am. I'm quite high on the pitch even in build-up, and I'm quite focused on coaching on the pitch to make sure defenders are in the right place.' Van Domselaar made vital saves in the semi-final second leg against Lyon, but a better indication of her overall contribution in that match, which Arsenal won 4-1 for a 5-3 aggregate score, was that she made more passes (44) than any Lyon player. Ahead of the season, Van Domselaar spoke about wanting to take an 'adventure to the unknown' and said winning the Champions League would be 'her biggest dream ever'. But back then, it was just aspiration, hope even, especially when Arsenal's first game of the group phase was a 5-2 loss away at Bayern Munich, Eidevall's departure coming soon after. Now, she is one game away from turning a dream into reality, albeit against a formidable Barcelona team that thrashed WSL champions Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals and have scored 44 goals on the way to this season's final at the Jose Alvalade Stadium. Advertisement 'It's crazy. If you told me a couple of years ago that I would be in a Champions League final, I would have said that's a joke,' she says. 'I slowly built into the team throughout the season and I personally feel I've done really well. 'We've grown in the Champions League. We had a rough time starting the group phase and despite winning all our group games after, it never got easy for us. Being able to pull it off against Lyon was really special and we're in the final now, so we just want to win it. 'At the same time, I can't be that excited yet because I really want to win that trophy.' This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Arsenal, Champions League, Soccer, UK Women's Football 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
25-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Arsenal's Lotte Wubben-Moy, Daphne van Domselaar set to return from injury against Lyon
Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers said Lotte Wubben-Moy and Daphne van Domselaar should be available to face Lyon in the second leg of their Women's Champions League semi-final on Sunday. Defender Wubben-Moy has been out since February with a muscular injury, while goalkeeper Van Domselaar missed Arsenal's last two matches with an ankle issue. Advertisement 'They trained today, the plan for them is to train tomorrow and then they will be available for Sunday, but everyone still needs to come through training tomorrow, as always,' Slegers said at a news conference on Friday. 'It's very good, we are very happy with the squad we have and the quality of players, so (to have) as many as possible available will be key for these big games we're playing. And this is where we want to be, so having these players back is very positive for us.' Arsenal midfielder Kim Little, meanwhile, was not in training on Friday, but Slegers said the 34-year-old is 'OK,' adding: 'The plan is for her to train tomorrow and for everyone to get through that session and be available for Sunday.' Manuela Zinsberger has kept goal for Arsenal in Van Domselaar's absence but could not prevent Arsenal from suffering a 2-1 home defeat in last weekend's first leg. Slegers' side looked to have secured a draw when Mariona Caldentey scored the equaliser from the penalty spot after Kadidiatou Diani opened the scoring in the first half. Daelle Melchie Dumornay, however, netted the winner on 82 minutes to give the eight-time Champions League winners an advantage heading into Sunday's game in France. (Photo of Daphne van Domselaar:)
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Arsenal's Lotte Wubben-Moy, Daphne van Domselaar set to return from injury against Lyon
Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers said Lotte Wubben-Moy and Daphne van Domselaar should be available to face Lyon in the second leg of their Women's Champions League semi-final on Sunday. Defender Wubben-Moy has been out since February with a muscular injury, while goalkeeper Van Domselaar missed Arsenal's last two matches with an ankle issue. Advertisement 'They trained today, the plan for them is to train tomorrow and then they will be available for Sunday, but everyone still needs to come through training tomorrow, as always,' Slegers said at a news conference on Friday. 'It's very good, we are very happy with the squad we have and the quality of players, so (to have) as many as possible available will be key for these big games we're playing. And this is where we want to be, so having these players back is very positive for us.' Arsenal midfielder Kim Little, meanwhile, was not in training on Friday, but Slegers said the 34-year-old is 'OK,' adding: 'The plan is for her to train tomorrow and for everyone to get through that session and be available for Sunday.' Manuela Zinsberger has kept goal for Arsenal in Van Domselaar's absence but could not prevent Arsenal from suffering a 2-1 home defeat in last weekend's first leg. Slegers' side looked to have secured a draw when Mariona Caldentey scored the equaliser from the penalty spot after Kadidiatou Diani opened the scoring in the first half. Daelle Melchie Dumornay, however, netted the winner on 82 minutes to give the eight-time Champions League winners an advantage heading into Sunday's game in France. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Arsenal, UK Women's Football 2025 The Athletic Media Company
The Guardian
26-03-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Arsenal v Real Madrid: Women's Champions League quarter-final, second leg
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature The team news is here! Arsenal make no changes to their line-up who beat Liverpool 4-0 in the women's Super League at the weekend. Arsenal: Van Domselaar, Fox, Williamson, Catley, Mariona, Little (C), McCabe, Maanum, Foord, Kelly, Russo Subs: Zinsberger, Williams, Codina, Ilestedt, Nighswonger, Reid, Walti, Cooney-Cross, Pelova, Mead, Kafaji, Blackstenius Real Madrid, meanwhile, are without Melanie Leupolz after she was taken off injured in the first leg. Real Madrid: Misa, Garcia, Mendez, Lakrar, Carmona, Toletti, Angeldahl, Caicedo, Bruun, Del Castillo Subs: Laia, Sofia, Antonia, REdondo, Yasmim, Moller, Camacho, Navarro, Feller, Noemi, Dorado, Elsa. Share Hello and welcome to the second leg of the Women's Champions League quarter-final between Arsenal and Real Madrid. It is the Gunners with all the work to do this evening but they are at home so the Emirates atmosphere may see them through to the semis. In the first leg, Real Madrid were spectacular on a horrid pitch to beat Arsenal 2-0. And although she didn't get on the scoresheet, Caroline Weir was on form. The question will be if they can replicate the performance away from home. Arsenal have a lot to overturn but if they score early it will rip the game wide open. We will be taking a look at what each club have said before this game and what the team news is. The line-ups for this evening's match will be revealed shortly so stay tuned before kick-off at 8pm GMT. Share
