Former Arsenal star backs Gunners to turn it around against Lyon and reach Champions League final | OneFootball

Former Arsenal, Chelsea and England forward Lianne Sanderson is optimistic that Arsenal can still progress to the Champions League final despite trailing to Lyon.

It follows Sanderson’s appointment as ambassador at the Festival of Women’s Football Awards, of which she said she is excited to be a part of.

The English teams contested the first leg of the Women’s Champions League semi-final last weekend. with Arsenal conceding a 2-1 loss at home against Lyon while Chelsea were beaten 4-1 at Barcelona.

Speaking first on Arsenal, Sanderson said the scoreline “flattered” her former side but given the tight scoreline, is convinced that Arsenal are “still in it”.

One bonus for the Gunners is the in-form Alessia Russo, who was shortlisted for Women’s Player of the Year at the Festival of Women’s Football Awards.

Sanderson is suitably impressed with her development at Arsenal, having struggled initially following her transfer from Manchester United.

She said: “Now she knows she’s the number nine, she’s scoring goals, she looks confident.”

Arsenal progressed to the semi-finals having beaten Real Madrid in the previous round. After losing the first leg in Madrid by two goals, Arsenal had it all to do when facing Real Madrid in the reverse fixture.

Russo and co. dismantled the Spanish team with three goals in 13 minutes to secure their progression to the semi-finals, with Russo scoring the first and last of the three as she bagged a brace.

Sanderson was keen to point out that it revealed another side of her personality: “I want to see her nastiness. I think you have to have that edge to you. Against Real Madrid we saw that.”

Regarding Chelsea’s hopes, Sanderson was a little less optimistic: “When you watch the games live, as much as it pains me to say it, every time Chelsea come up against Barcelona they don’t seem to stick to their game plan. They’ve never beaten them, semi-finals and finals.”

The 50-cap former England international did, however, say: “[Chelsea] can definitely score at Stamford Bridge. The problem is they’re not going to stop Barcelona from scoring, if they score one, it’s five-one, it’s game over. I think the game is wrapped up already.”

The second legs will be contested on Sunday, with Chelsea first hosting Barcelona at 14:00 BST, and Arsenal kicking-off at Lyon at 17:00 BST. A place in the final will be the reward if either English side can complete a memorable turnaround.