A disappointing day at home for the Gunners ended in a loss after a ruthless strike from Lyon’s Diani gave them an early lead. Mariona Caldentey made it level when she slotted home a goal from the penalty spot. The joy of the equaliser was short lived as Lyon’s Dumornay found the back of the net to put them back ahead. The game ended 2-1, a deficit for Arsenal that they’ll need to work hard to overturn next weekend.

But what did manager Renée Slegers have to say after today’s performance? Here are three key takeaways from her post-match press conference.

The memory of the last Arsenal away fixture against Lyon is a good boost, but Arsenal must also be aware of the differences this time around

Slegers spoke about how the club’s previous win away in Lyon acts as inspiration for their trip there next week.

"From a psychological point of view, knowing that if you go there, you can do something. And Arsenal’s done it before and won 5-1. But yeah, this is going to be a different scenario.”

She went on to say that Lyon will be looking to keep their lead, and Arsenal must find a way through.

“Lyon are happy with the 2-1 here, and they will do everything they can to protect that lead. So it’s going to be a very difficult game, but we’re going to go there and believe that we can do something.”

The 2-1 result was not what Arsenal wanted, but it is not a disaster

Slegers spoke about Arsenal’s disappointment, but also stressed that she feels they have every chance to turn it around in the second leg.

“I think we’re not happy with the result, we did really well finally getting the equaliser… After that goal, we felt like we could potentially score another one… A draw or a win was what we went for.” Said Slegers who then set the scene for next week’s fixture. “It’s going to be a pitch, 11 v 11, good grass, and we have all the opportunities to win that game next week.”

Lyon’s pacy attack was different to anything Arsenal have faced recently

Slegers explained to the media, that the speed and intensity of the Lyon forwards was a new experience for her Arsenal side, and that they will be working to find ways to neutralise the threats.

“I think playing against Lyon, with specifically these three forwards on the pitch, it’s something that we haven’t faced this season yet. You have to experience it to be able to find the solution… Of course, we prepared for that. It’s not that it was a surprise for us. We knew what we were going to face and the players knew exactly that this was the threat.”

She added that she felt her team started to work out the Lyon threats as the game went on.

“We needed to settle in the game and it took us some time, but we did it,” she said, “We found the solutions and the courage and the belief started to grow and the solutions for how we stopped them… I’m happy with the way we grow into the game and especially the phase in the second half where we dominate.”