First-leg leads could prove crucial

Montpellier HSC and 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam both hope to make the most of comfortable first-leg leads in order to reach the UEFA Women's Cup semi-finals on Sunday.

Montpellier ahead
French champions Montpellier defeated Brøndby IF 3-0 at home last Saturday to continue a fine second campaign in this competition. A first-half Hoda Lattaf strike was added to in the second period by two Elodie Thomis goals, but Montpellier coach Patrice Lair is taking nothing for granted in Denmark.

Away goal wanted
"Everything could flop over there. Imagine they score early in the game," said Lair, who has travelled with an 18-strong squad. "I wanted to take another player but it was too expensive. No one is injured and they are ready for the game. Our aim will be to score in order to end their hopes. I saw they had some defensive weaknesses."

Potsdam in control
Should Montpellier overcome the 2003 semi-finalists, they will play either 1. FFC Frankfurt or Arsenal LFC, who meet in Germany on Saturday having drawn 1-1 last weekend. The other German contenders, the holders Potsdam, are also at home on Sunday, but hold a commanding 8-1 lead from their trip to Iceland to play Valur Reykjavik.

Gunnarsdóttir hope
Valur, Iceland's first quarter-finalists, were level at 1-1 late in the first half before Anja Mittag's goal set Potsdam on the way to victory. Elisabet Gunnarsdóttir, the Valur coach, hopes to claw back some respectability, saying: "We are looking very much forward to this game, we did well in the first game and were very unhappy about the result so we like to get another shot at it. Of course we must improve things, like our defence, but we are going for victory."

Potsdam concerns
Potsdam have several player concerns, as captain Ariane Hingst has flu, Karolin Thomas is experiencing acute hearing loss, Juliane Höfler and Paula are nursing thigh injuries and Petra Wimbersky is suffering from a skin disease that will also keep her out of Germany's FIFA Women's World Cup qualifier against Scotland later this month.

'Good show' planned
None the less everybody in the Potsdam camp is optimistic that every thing will go as planned in the Karl-Liebknecht-Stadion on Sunday. "We would have to do some extremely stupid things to lose control of the tie.“ said striker Aferdita Podvorica. Coach Bernd Schröder added: “We want to put on a good show for our fans.”

Vidarsdottir praise
Schröder singled out 19-year-old Margret Vidarsdottir as the Valur player to watch. “She is a player interesting Bundesliga teams," he said. "We will mark her with two players but I still doubt that we will be able to take her out of the game completely."

Final rematch
Should Potsdam avoid a huge upset, they will find out their semi-final opponents on Wednesday. A rematch of the 2005 final will be on the cards if Djurgården/Alvsjö make the most of a 2-0 win gained last Tuesday at AC Sparta Praha.