Montemurro has ‘no regrets’ about Champions League record at Arsenal

Lyon boss Joe Montemurro insists he has ‘no regrets’ over not getting many chances at a Champions League campaign during his tenure as Arsenal manager. The Australian coached the Gunners from November 2017 until May 2021 but only had one UWCL campaign, which was interrupted by the covid-19 pandemic.

Montemurro won the WSL title, Arsenal’s most recent, in 2018-19. The subsequent Champions League campaign was interrupted by the pandemic and a two-legged quarter-final against PSG became a one off game at a neutral venue behind closed doors.

Arsenal lost that game 2-1 and because the WSL season was terminated and decided on points per game in 2019-20, Montemurro’s side were 3rd in the table which, at the time, wasn’t enough to secure UWCL football. The team did qualify in 2020-21 but Montemurro resigned that summer.

Arseblog News attended his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s semi-final second leg between Lyon and Arsenal. We asked the former Gunners manager whether he had any regrets over the lack of a proper UWCL campaign during his stint.

‘I wouldn’t say a regret, it is obviously an internal personal goal as a coach to go as far as you can in this competition because it does give you that measure of always being at the top level. I wouldn’t say there is any unfinished business, it was always circumstances.

‘In all honesty, the growth of Arsenal in this competition was expected with the growth that happened and the investment and the growth of the WSL. The qualifying opportunities are different now and the change of format, it was normal that Arsenal are competing at the top.

‘Different circumstances, the environment and the situation at the time, we extracted what we could out of what we had at the time. No regrets, I am happy to be here now and I hope Lyon can keep going further.’ Eight time UWCL winners Lyon take a 2-1 first leg lead to Stade OL for Sunday and Montemurro says his team have ample experience to control the emotion of the occasion.

‘My message is to be ourselves, to believe in what we have done all year, to dominate games, to love the ball and have the ball. That has been the message. The environment and the situation are set for it and it is up for us. But it has also been about enjoying the week, it’s a special week in terms of a Champions League semi-final so we’ve brought a lot of fun into training too.’

Montemurro also says that he anticipates the second leg will be similar to the first with both teams enjoying periods of dominance. ‘You saw the first match and it was a bit of both (attacking and defending). They put us under pressure in the second half but it’s not so much whether we wait or attack, it’s about understanding the situation and the moments, that’s what these games are about.

‘These games bring a lot of emotions, ups and downs and a lot of moments and you have to read that situation. Sometimes it means you have to defend more or stay a bit more compact, sometimes you can be more expansive. We will read the game, these players have been educated to read the game and we’ll make the decisions according to how they are presented.’

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