Montpellier pace causes Umeå concern

When Umeå IK take on Montpellier Hérault SC in the first leg of their UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final in northern Sweden on Wednesday, they will do it with a new coach and, in many ways, a new team.

Lisa Dahlkvist, Ramona Bachmann, Mami Yamaguchi and Elaine – internationals for Sweden, Switzerland, Japan and Brazil respectively – have all left the club since their last competitive game, the 1-1 home draw with WFC Rossiyanka on 11 November that took Umeå through the round of 16.

Joakim Blomqvist, 30, has replaced Mika Sankala as coach and brought in Nigerian international Rita Chikwelu, returning captain Frida Östberg and experienced goalkeeper Caroline Jönsson. Finnish midfielder Anna Wesetlund, another winter arrival, is cup-tied.

"It's going to take a long time for us to fill the gaps left by those players, especially offensively," Blomqvist told UEFA.com. "However, I feel we've already come a long way with our defence. Montpellier have several quick players and they're really good at switching from defence to attack. Also they're well-organised."

There were fears that the unusually severe Swedish winter could put the match in doubt but the artificial surface at Gammliavallen is playable, though the conditions are not exactly southern French. "Apparently they've phoned us from France saying that some players have never seen snow before," said Blomqvist. "Well, they'll definitely see it when they come here."

While two-time European champions Umeå, veterans of five UEFA Women's Cup finals, do not start the new Swedish season until next month, Montpellier have won all five of their outings in 2010, conceding only twice. Having already knocked out FC Bayern München, Montpellier will hope to repeat the exploits of their only previous European quarter-final, an impressive 6-1 aggregate dismissal of Brøndby IF in 2005/06.