Groenen: 'Anything can happen in a semi-final'
Paris Saint-Germain star Jackie Groenen looks ahead to the UEFA Women's Champions League semi-final first leg against Olympique Lyonnais, this Saturday 20 April at 19:00 CET in Lyon.
Jackie, THE TEAM IS PREPARING TO TAKE ON OL iN THE UWCL SEMI-FINALS... WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THESE GAMES AGAINST LYON?
“It’s such an old rivalry… Paris versus Lyon is the match of the season. The first day I arrived here, people told me: "There are the matches against Lyon, and then there are the others." Everyone in Paris wants to beat Lyon, and vice versa. I even think that when I was playing for Manchester United, people didn’t talk as much about Manchester City as we do about Olympique Lyonnais here. I realised straight away: "OK, they are obviously our biggest competition. This is the team we have to beat." It’s very exciting because these games are of the very highest standard. I love playing against Lyon, even if it’s always a tough game.”
IS THE FACT THAT THIS SEMI-FINAL IS AN ALL FRENCH AFFAIR CHANGE ANYTHING?
“Yes, it’s a good thing for the French league that one of the two teams will be in the final. The league is developing in France, and it’s very important to stay competitive at the highest level. Obviously we are up against Lyon again, but we are getting closer and closer and we hope that we will be at their level, or even better. It’s a semi-final so anything can happen and we feel very good about this game.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THEIR BIGGEST STRENGTH?
Olympique Lyonnais’ biggest strength is the team itself, not just one or two players, but the whole team. Delphine Cascarino is back in top form and is always hard to stop. She can score from anywhere. We also know Kadidiatou Diani very well because she played with us for a long time. She is very quick and defending against her is tough. Lyon are a very physical team, very powerful, and have caused us problems in the past. But I think we can match their level now, both in terms of our playing squad and in terms of our game.”
DOES THE TEAM FEEL LIKE IT CAN BEAT LYON AND REACH THE FINAL?
“I think in the last game we played against them in the league, that we showed that we can play our own football against them and that we have our own strengths. We imposed our own game plan on them and I think they struggled to play their game. I can’t wait for this next game against them and I hop ewe can do the same thing. OL has been the benchmark for a long time and has won the Champions League so many times... They are a good team, but I think we are getting closer and closer, so who knows?”