Duisburg show respect for Arsenal

FCR 2001 Duisburg have not lost a match since last April, seven weeks before they won the UEFA Women's Cup. Yet as the German side continue their bid to win the competition's successor, the UEFA Women's Champions League, they are wary of quarter-final first-leg visitors Arsenal LFC.

The scale of interest in the game has led Duisburg to move it to the MSV Arena, where they attracted a competition-record crowd to see them lift the trophy last season, with up to 10,000 fans expected to witness the Arsenal tie.

They will be seeing a Duisburg team on top of the Frauen-Bundesliga, with Inka Grings in typically prolific form up front, facing an Arsenal outfit who have recently changed their manager and are losing England midfielder Katie Chapman to Chicago Red Stars. FCR coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg nevertheless has great respect for the 2006/07 European champions, saying "it is a pity this is only the quarter-final".

She added: "They are a very strong team, and play at a very high European level. The players are very athletic and very strong when it comes to running. But I hope it will be a close match and that we will get a result that will leave the second leg wide open. Of course, we intend to not to concede a goal at home and score at least one ourselves."

Arsenal have scored 23 times in their four matches in the competition, Kim Little contributing nine, but have a new face on the bench after Laura Harvey replaced Tony Gervaise.

Harvey has overseen wins in all of her three matches in charge, the team scoring 19 goals, but will be concentrating on defence in Germany. "We've got to still be in the tie at the end of the first leg," she said. "If we get an away goal or two, great, but the first aim will be not to concede." The second leg, unlike the other ties, will be played on Sunday.