‘It’s a huge priority’ – UWCL success a top target for Manchester City says Taylor | OneFootball

Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor says that success in the UEFA Women’s Champions League is one of the club’s top priorities this season.

The Cityzens return to the competition following a one-season absence when they contest the first leg of their Round 2 tie against Paris FC in the French capital on Wednesday evening.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Manchester City boss Taylor said that European success ranks highly in the club’s list of priorities, alongside winning the WSL title.

“It’s a huge priority,” Taylor said. “I think we’ve always said that the priority is to try and win the WSL; it’s something that we’ve only done once previously. We’ve come close; in two of my seasons here, I think it’s gone down to the final game. Last season’s was supremely close. Of course, the reward that comes from winning the WSL is going straight into the group stage of the Champions League which is what everyone wants.

“Every team that has faced a Champions League qualifier over the last few years has never had it easy. Sometimes, the route can be slightly different whether you finish second or third but we’ve seen previously that it’s a very tough competition to get into the group stage. We feel that if we can get into it, we can have a real good go in this competition.”

Manchester City’s Round 2 opponents Paris FC reached the group stage of last season’s competition and Taylor sees them as a significant threat.

He said “Regardless of who we drew, it’s a really tough stage of the competition. We’ve said previously that in this round, you can potentially face tougher games than you do in the group stage.

“Their pedigree is very good, they’re a dangerous opponent for sure and they won’t make it easy.

“It’s a tough opponent for us but actually, the signs from the girls in pre-season have been really good. We’ve made some adjustments in the summer, we’ve recruited a few new players and they’ve settled in really well.”

Going on to discuss Paris FC in detail, Taylor expects his side to face an energetic team but he believes that Manchester City can be successful if they manage the key moments well.

He said “They’re one of the most aggressive pressing teams that I’ve seen. At times, they can be slightly erratic with their press and leave some spaces in-behind but they’ve had a lot of success with the energy that they put into the game.

“It’s a really dangerous opponent. What we have to do is be smart with the ball, really kill the spaces when we get those opportunities and be ruthless.

“I expect it to be a high-energy game, a fast game and of course, we want to try and control as many of those scenarios as we possibly can but we realise that sometimes, it will be quite difficult to do that. Most of the time, we anticipate that the spaces might be the other side of their back-line rather than in-front, so the players are more than capable of playing that game as well.”

Manchester City’s UEFA Women’s Champions League Round 2, first leg tie against Paris FC takes place at Stade Charléty at 5.45pm on Wednesday evening.