The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Arsenal book their spot in the Champions League final – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: April 29, 2025

Faye Carruthers is joined by Sophie Downey, Ameé Ruszkai and Marva Kreel to discuss Arsenal’s win, Chelsea’s loss and latest action across the WSL and the Championship

This is The Guardian. in 18 years after another come from behind performance knocking out 8 time winners Leon. It won't be an all English final though after Chelsea were flattened by the Barcelona juggernaut again. In the WSL Crystal Palace are down but who's going to take their place? The championship title race is going down to the last day of the season. We'll discuss all that plus we'll take your questions and round up some of the other action from the weekend and that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Oh what a panel we have today. Susie is still recovering, we sent her lots of love. Soph Downey is here. Inher place is not right, that's not the right way to

say it at all but you have put your hat back on which I'm delighted to see. How are you Soph? Yeah order has been restored. Yeah I've been saying that I've been masquerading in Susie for like the last 10 days, so don't worry about that. But I'm good. I had a very fun weekend going to watch the Red Roses win the Grand Slam and then of course off to Leone to watch Arsenal get to the Champions League final. So high on life at the moment. What a final that was, by the way. What was it it 43-42? That's absolutely incredible. Yeah, it was ridiculously tense at the end. They were really comfortable in the first half

and then it got really narrow at the end. Oh, we've got a summer of this to come, I feel. Not quite of those score lines though, hopefully. Otherwise, we're in a little bit of trouble in Switzerland. Amy Ruschke, it's lovely to see you. I promise I will not insult Bradford today. No, sensitive subject this week as well. As a fellow EFL sufferer, I know that you know the pain.

So anything to take my mind off it, that's why I accepted the invitation to come on here, obviously. Listen, at least your pain is at the other end of the table. Mine is far too in the depths for my liking, but we've both got a tense weekend to come for sure. Marva Creel has just been having her feet up as an Everton fan after all the stresses of the start of the season, although a defeat in the Premier League at the weekend. How are you, Marva?

I'm well, thanks. It's a very weird season, very weird position to be in, to just not really care anymore. You care, but you're like, oh, you can lose and not like it feels soul destroying. Amazing. For both teams, mid-table mediocrity. Who thought it? Who'd have thunk it at the start of the season? Love it. Right, let's get on with it because an English team is heading to the Champions League final. We did want it to be both. Could you have imagined Arsenal against Chelsea? But it's the Red Gunners who've booked their spot in Lisbon coming back from a first leg deficit to knock out eight-time champions Lyon. It finished Lyon 1, Arsenal 4. A Christine Endler

own goal gave them an early lead before Mariona Caldente, Alessia Russo and Caitlin Fordall scored. Malky de Mourne pulled a late consolation back for Lyon but it wasn't enough and the Gunners progressed 5-3 on aggregate. What a night for Arsenal and their fans. Their first European final since they actually won the whole tournament in 2007. What did you make of their performance, Soph? I'm still a bit flabbergasted, I think, about what happened. I've been to that stadium many times and I've had the utter heartbreak of, say, the semi-final at the World Cup for England and then I was there two, three years ago when Arsenal

did the same thing against Lyon in the group stages of the Champions League when they beat them 5-1. And it's like, going into it, I was like, there's no way. I just don't think they could do that kind of thing again. I thought they could win, but I didn't think they could do that kind of thing again. And then they just went and did it. And I think I would put it down. I've seen many performances in European football, but I think it was probably up there as one of the best from an English team in European football.

They just went and absolutely demolished them. And yes, Leon might have not been entirely on their day, but I think Renee Sleggers and her team got the tactics exactly right. I think they were so buoyed by that second half at the Emirates where they did dominate. They had the chances. They just didn't take them. And I think they just carried that into this week where they, yeah, they just were straight from the off, there were no slow starts at all, they were straight on it and they got that goal really at the important time in the fifth minute and it just set them on their way.

And it was such an achievement as well for Renée Slagers. We're used to seeing her stoically standing on the touchline but she was able to join in the the celebrations with their players at full time this is what she had to say I'm delighted for everyone it's euphoria such a special moment so happy we need to celebrate these special moments but also stay humble and we get ready for the next one that's just become management speak for sure staying humble and getting ready for the next one tick I can't believe she's only been in the job actually, Marva, since October, really. It feels like she's been there for such a long time.

Led them to the Champions League final at the first time of asking when so many other managers before her were unable to do that. She's kind of shown just what she is all about really in terms of a coach, hasn't she? Yeah, massively. It's been a really interesting one to see unfold actually because I think there was a lot of praise for her when she came in, obviously, you know, got them doing

well in the league, but there was still question marks over, can she really take them to that next level of kind of elite football and will she be that person to do it? And, you know, you look at Chelsea and kind of how they've operated as a club and me included were kind of critical of Arsenal in the sense of I didn't feel like they had matched Chelsea in their ambitions of kind of wanting to be that next real elite club and I sort of included Renee in that slightly in the sense of it might be a bit of a risk to sort of go with her full-time when we haven't seen her take them to that next level and if Arsenal want those ambitions and you know what Arsenal fans want, they want to win Champions League,

they want to win the WSL, they want to win the FA Cups and do you need like a world-class manager to do that and obviously she's still so new into the job but to do this as well as the form that they've been in in the league as well it's been yeah it's been really incredible to watch and even just their growth as a team I think in this game in particular you really saw it in terms of I think one thing they were really struggling with With Renet, the beginning was more so they're finishing. They were sort of creating chances in a lot of games I think back to that game One won against Man United when they were really on top and just sort of letting that go Didn't didn't capitalize on a lot of their chances and we've seen that quite a bit and I was starting to think well is that just actually

Symptomatic of a bigger problem of how they're playing and that they're creating chances but they're not finishing them. And then in these few games in the Champions League you've seen, and actually in the league, they've really turned it on against some of the smaller teams too. But yeah, to obviously Real Madrid get all those goals in the second half, this game as well, it's like, oh when they want to turn it on, they can turn it on, but let's just see if they're able to do that in the final. Yeah, listen, we know that they're capable of it. It's just that at times this season, we've not necessarily seen the best of them. We have seen the best of Leon over the years, and Joe Montemuro was completely perplexed after the game, called his side's performance

inexplicable. It was actually the first time they'd been beaten in the competition. They were the only unbeaten side left. Where did it all go wrong for them, Amy? I was surprised that he took Grandin-Onc for starting 11 from the game at the end. I think she does a lot of that sort of dirty work, picking up the loose balls and things like that. You watch this game in Lyon and they had so much space in midfield, did Arsenal. Like so much space, it was incredible. And yeah, I expected that to kind of be the half-time sub and it didn't come. And then I think it came like what, 20 minutes before the end, he brought Randa Donkhan.

It was just, yeah, it was strange because kind of out of possession, they sort of set up in like a 4-4-2, they pushed them I up next to Hegerberg and then you've got two that two midfield trying to contain you know Kim Little and Mariana Caldente in particular and you know Friedemann and popping around and picking up the space as well I was just yeah just I just found it quite surprising that he he made that change and I don't obviously there wasn't that much in it in the first leg you know I still created a lot of chances it wasn't like much in it in the first leg. I still created a lot of chances, it wasn't like they were absolutely unbelievable, Leon in the first leg didn't concede me chances,

Vanda don't the reason, but it just felt like a strange sort of change and I'm not really sure why he made it and surprised that it took him so long to kind of unmake it in a way. Unmake it, I love that. There was special praise as well for Kim Little after the match. Lea Williamson was quite emotional actually at full time and so the first and only person I wanted to see was Kim. Kim Little is an unbelievable footballer who goes under the radar at all times. Unfortunately the international stage didn't provide her with any of these incredible opportunities but I think she's a player worthy of seven or eight Champions League titles. I'm very proud that the team did that for her today. It was actually a lovely photo that Leigh Williamson put up on social media, Soph wasn't there, and Kim joined

the club aged 17 just after Arsenal won their first and only Champions League title and put in a performance for the ages. On Sunday she was incredible incredible, wasn't she? She was. She really, really is a heartbeat of the Arsenal field. And yes, she's maybe edging slightly towards the end of the her career. None of us want to really see her see that happen, of course. But the fact that she can pull stuff out of the bag like that and produce a performance like that, I think she really, her and Mariona Caldente really complement each other really well. And that's been a real revelation, I think, since Renée Slegers has come in. The fact that Mariona has dropped a bit deeper into that kind of eight role

and that she's working with Kim Little, who naturally when she started playing football was a more attacking midfielder. And now she's adapted her game to suit Arsenal's knees and she's done it brilliantly. I think when you think about Kim as a footballer, I wrote about this for the Guardian yesterday, you know, she's so understated and she just, she never really likes the attention on herself. I think when you ask her, she always, I interviewed her in the mix zone after the game and she always talks about the team and she's much

more comfortable talking about those around her. But you could just see, you know, the emotion in Leah Williamson when she was talking about Kim. Renée Sleggers as well in the post-match conference was really, really, you know, made it really clear what she is like as a leader and how integral she is to the side. I think there was a moment on the pitch after the game where Leah Walty and Kim are just like embracing in the middle of the pitch and there's like mayhem going on around them. And it just kind of sums Kim up perfectly, I think, because she is that quite understated footballer who lets her footballer do the talking rather than actually speaking herself.

And she is brilliant and she deserves to lead her team out in Lisbon on May 24th. When she does that, she will level Arsenal's Champions League appearances with Horder so Emma Byrne was the last one to have that record so it's going to be a special moment for her and whatever happens on the day I think she'll remember it forever. That's incredible isn't it? Couldn't happen to a nicer person. They are actually the first team to reach the Champions League final having played 14 games as well Amy, talking about records. They kicked off their campaign in qualifying against Rangers. You'll remember we were worried for them after what happened to them against Paris FC last season. Was that last season? It feels

like it. The days just vanished, don't they? The years just vanished. But it's been an incredible journey actually when you think about where they were at the start of this season. How have they turned it around, Marva? Well, I mean, change of manager probably helped. But, you know, even, yeah, you talk about qualifying, but I think even you look at that game against Bayern where it was like, they cannot compete at this level. They just don't have the talent to do it. Particularly in this game, we spoke about Lyon a little bit.

It was interesting in that Lyon kind of reminded me of a team that didn't have a Champions League pedigree, who were kind of that like underdog team who went in with a goal lead and then their sort of inexperience got the better of them, panicked a bit, gave the ball away. A lot a lot of the goals were you know just gifted to Arsenal and Arsenal came across as a team who had been in many finals before. I don't know what's happened to their mentality to help change that but I think as I've said

as well like that what Caldente did and her role in midfield has been incredible. Individually on the pitch they won every single individual battle on Sunday. In a way I know, we'll talk about it in a way that Chelsea didn't across their two ties. And I think just every player stepped up and they have talent, they have goal scorers and they just turned up and did what they needed to do. Yeah, they did and they'll play Barcelona in the final after they knocked out Chelsea. Chelsea's second heavy defeat at the hands of a team that is fast becoming their nemesis if it isn't already. The second leg finished the same as the first. Chelsea won Barcelona 4 so the current holders cruised through to the final 8-2 on aggregate. Aitana Bonmatie opened the scoring

Eva Payor and Claudia Pina added to Chelsea's woes before the break just like they'd done in the first leg. Salma Paraluello added one more late on while Vika Kaptain pulled one back for the Blues in injury time but not enough and another tough day actually for Chelsea. Amy, how do you reflect on this one and actually their overall approach to the game? I think we were just saying this a little bit off air before we started recording, but it's hard to, it's almost hard to judge the second leg because the tie was, I mean, it

was pretty much dead, right? Like as a professional footballer who's going into a Champions League semi-final second leg falling down you obviously have to tell yourself that it's not dead but it's hard because like you know teams struggle to beat Barcelona full stop and you're trying to beat them 3-0 to force extra time to then try and beat them in extra time or unpalatable it's just it's so hard to judge that second leg I think the first like they really just kind of shot themselves in the foot with just sloppy, stupid goals at the end of that game. You know, they were 2-1 down with 15 minutes left and you take 2-1 back to Stamford Bridge and you are still in it, like you're still

up against it because you're playing Barcelona, but you are still in it. But, you know, the goals that they gave away and they were lucky not to give away more goals at the end of that first leg, because there are just so many like, what are you doing moments? You know, you sat there and, you know, I've not got a dog in this fight. And I'm like, what are you doing? Why are you, you know? And then, yeah, I think I think ultimately that was probably the costly thing across the tie because it killed the tie before it even got to Stanford Bridge, essentially. And and then, you know, you've got to go for broken. The defending wasn't great

again at Stanford Bridge you know like every single goal you can look at and think you've got to do better there and maybe it's a symptom a little bit of they are thin they have been thin at the back you know Bright has played so much because Guerm has been injured because Zampoma has been injured because and Poma has been injured because Buchanan did a ACL, you know, Bjorn's not playing at the moment. They have been thin and maybe the workload's gone a little bit too much on certain players. But yeah, I think even if that's not the case, you know, you're still making silly mistakes that really cost you that.

Yeah, we'll talk about the defence more in depth in a second, but I just want to read out what Sonia Bonpastor said because she actually didn't think that her team were too far away from Barcelona and said that she knows what's needed. There's a wry smile on Soph's face at the moment as a Chelsea fan, but the only positive in my head, she said, is it's really clear what we need to do to compete for the Champions League. We're not shying away from the ambitions of the club. What did you make of her comments? Where do they need to strengthen? I think it's interesting because I wouldn't probably say that they aren't too far away when you've been beaten 8-2 on aggregate. That's a bit of a weird comment, I think, from my point of view.

I think they're like, they can play better than they did. And I think, as Amy said, you know, that first leg kind of destroyed the second leg. So kind of taking that out of the equation, if you're looking at the first leg, they are still Barcelona or Supreme in terms of the kind of quality that they had. And I think I said this last week,

you take, you know, you take Kira Walsh and Lucy Brons out of this boss loan tweet team, and they don't look like they miss them. They just look like they're just, you know, jugger norting on and as good as ever. And it's going to be a tricky one. I think Sonia Bonpastor, I think it is understandable. It's her first year. She's learning a lot about her side. She's inherited a group of players as well. It does take managers

time, you know, to kind of shape squads in their own image. And I do imagine there'll be some business in the summer, you know, some people will leave and some will come in to try and really, you know, get the squad firing on the kind of tactical side of things or technical abilities that she wants in a team. I think she does, you know, prefer Naomi Germa kind of center back. So I think they'll start building the team around her. I think it's been really unfortunate that since Gurma's come in, you know, she's had that injury. She's never really got off the ground running. And then she's thrown into a game against Barcelona before she's even started

walking. And even for the best players in the world, that's incredibly, incredibly hard. So there will be work to do at the summer. I think you have to have as a coach, I think you can fix things. But I would be just a bit worried that, you know, in terms of where they were last year to where they are this year and the gap between the two sides, I think it's just grown a little bit bigger than what it was. And that's down to the players, but it's also down to Sonja tactically as well. Yeah, and you know, you've both mentioned problems with the defence. It was a good start, but the defensive performance again just left much to be desired, which I'm sure Sonia Bonpapistor

will be very frustrated with, Marva. But it still felt as if Barcelona were a cut above Chelsea in both legs. What did you make of their performance? Oh, they were incredible. And they just show their talent because I think obviously, you know, Pateas had that injury and now you look at it and you've got she's come back, she's in world class form. And then you've got Bournmatty now who's also in world class form. And that exactly it showed exactly because in the first leg I thought Pateas controlled that game. Second leg Bournmatty steps up, gets her customary goal and a play of the match performance against Chelsea.

The individual talent, and when you're making silly errors or even just seconds of loss of concentration, if you look at that second goal, Paolo's goal, Millie Bright actually has her. She's marking her in the box. And she looks away for a second and Pio just runs across her at the perfect time and gets that touch in and that just shows you the levels that Barcelona are at. You cannot switch off for

a second because they have world-class players who will finish. That Bormatti goal, okay, yes Charles dies in, yes Niskin should probably cover and then Bormatti is able to just literally run the length of half a pitch. However, not many players in the world can still get that much space and then do what she did in that finish. So I just think as a whole, as a unit, I've had some doubts about them this season in terms of compared to last season in League F. I don't think they've been as good as they were last season. But then you see them in the Champions League and you see them against Chelsea and you go, oh, okay. Yeah, maybe they haven't exactly fallen off. If anything,

they've got better in terms of, I think, their movement around each other. Pino again was excellent. And just the fact that they've got players like Piena like Parreiro who can just pull off something like that I was I was actually just astounded by them and they're one of those teams that I just as a sort of neutral in this I'm just so excited to watch and they just have so many players that just like make me fall in love with football as I watch them obviously I hope it's a close game in the final but I do want to see the best of Barcelona in that final as well because it is just something that's just special to watch and you kind of have to appreciate when you have these world-class teams that we're just

able to watch in the moment. Absolutely, we'll talk about the final in a second. Just going back to Chelsea, Amy, they've got to put the disappointment behind them very quickly because they're back in Amy, they've got to put the disappointment behind them very quickly because they're back in league action against Manchester United on Wednesday night, which is a crucial game for both sides. How do they refocus? I think they'll be fine. I think like the Erwin Cuthbert said after the game, like you're going to kind of use the hurt from that. I think in a way you're probably more motivated with what's left because you've lost the trophy there, it's gone off the table, you've only got these next two left, you probably put everything into

that. I know that they haven't got over the hurdle in Europe yet and it kind of contradicts, but they have got an incredible mentality and they're used to this kind of switching focus every three days. I think that they will be fine. I think that they just have that mentality, that professionalism, that hunger. And definitely off the back of this, that motivation to kind of put things right. And it could be one of them where Manganati would end up being on the, kind of the unlucky because Chelsea come out absolutely firing and angry at themselves. And yeah yeah I think we've seen a couple of them over the years from Chelsea so yeah we shall see that's Wednesday night but it is an Arsenal

Barcelona final Arsenal obviously the underdogs we're going to preview the game in more depth closer to the time the final in Lisbon is going to be a real spectacle though both teams carry really strong away support. 24th of May is when it is. Date for your diaries. Soph, what are your initial thoughts on what Arsenal need to do to cause a shock? It's going to be hard and they will be underdogs but I think they should like embrace that. You know there's maybe a bit of freedom to be found in being the underdogs. No one's expecting you to go and win it necessarily. You obviously think you can win it and have to believe.

But I think the general public will think that Barcelona nailed on favorites for this one. So go and enjoy it. It's 90 minutes. Anything can happen in 90 minutes. And I think the key areas will be that central area. You know, when you look at Barcelona's midfield trio of Patry, Atana, Bomati and Alexey Piteus, they're frightening. But if you can nullify the spaces and stop them playing a bit more centrally and try and force them out wide, maybe you've gotten an opportunity

to make them a little bit more uncomfortable than they would be because you know they love to play between the lines and play those short passes. So it's going to be interesting whether they sacrifice, Arsenal are prepared to sacrifice their style a bit to try and nullify Barcelona's threats. I think that's what Chelsea failed to do. And sometimes you just have to, you know, against those kind of teams, against the Spains and Barcelona's of the world, you have to kind of, you know, sacrifice that ball playing desire to be able to, you know, just stand back

and remain compact and hit them on the break. So that's going to be interesting, but it's going to be what an occasion it's going to be. It's going to be bouncing in Lisbon. As he said, you know, these two teams are really heavily supported. The Arsenal fans travel widely. There were a good 500 of them in Lyon at the weekend,

and you could hear them all across the stadium. And you can only imagine how many are going to turn up in Lisbon as do Barcelona. I remember at Bilbao last year, it just basically, I know it's Spain, but it was just basically a sea of Barcelona colors. So it's going to be a really fun occasion. The atmosphere is going to be incredible, I think, and they can feed off that as well, I'm pretty sure.

Yeah, that's going to be some spectacle, that is for sure. That's it for part one. In part two, we'll look a little bit closer to home. Both relegation spots are confirmed and the Barclays Championship heads down to the wire. Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. So obviously most of the focus at the weekend was on the European stage, but there was also a lot to keep an eye on back home as the Barclays WSL and Championship near their conclusion. We'll start in the WSL with heartbreak for Crystal Palace. Their relegation from the top division was confirmed just one season after moving up and it happened in devastating fashion as well. They were completely swept away by West Ham at Sutton United. It finished Crystal

Palace 1, West Ham 7. Look, so the writing had been on the wall for Palace in recent weeks, but what a horrible way to drop back down again. Really emotional for the club, the players and their fans as well. Where did it all go wrong for them? Yeah, I mean, this game was one to forget, that's for sure, but I don't think this game was the one that decided their season. You look at kind at some opportunities earlier on in the season where even when they played Brighton, they lost just 1-0, but they didn't take their chances in the game. They had more chances than Brighton, I think. So they have to look at the seasons as a whole rather than this game. But yeah, the manner of the defeat will really annoyed Leif Smirrod, I'm sure.

It's an interesting one because I still question the club's decision and this is nothing against Smirid himself. I think he's, from what I've met of him and how I've interviewed him, he comes across as a really astute manager. He's very involved in the kind of psychological side of the game, but I still don't think there was a massive improvement since he came in. And the club sacked Laura Kaminski with the aim of trying to improve things. And I do think when you reflect on that decision, does it cause more disruption maybe than it necessarily had to because you didn't actually see much of a change in results other than that win against Aston Villa.

So questions to be asked to think about the club behind the scenes. It was always going to be a tough ask. They had to completely change their playing style from last year where they could be super expansive in the championship. They attacked at will, they scored so many goals, and then they came up against the big dogs and had to learn how to defend pretty quickly. And when that's not your style, when that's not the way that you want to play football, that's incredibly hard to do within the space of a season.. So yeah, there's going to be lots of reflection. I wonder, I do think, you know,

they're going to lose players over the summer, of course. So it's going to be a tough one to come back from. Yeah. What do they do next season, Marva? Where does the club kind of go from here? Because it was a big, big disappointment for them, but perhaps they didn't quite plan enough for what the WSL was going to be. How do they approach next season? Well, I think that's where I agree with Sophie in terms of the sacking of the manager, because I think with Kaminsky, you know, you still felt that they were building something. And when you sort of, when you sack a manager on a kind of whim to like, let's just give it a go to try and stay up, it doesn't really give me the confidence that you're really building for next season and what you're then going to face there. And like I said, they did well in the championship with the style that they were playing. So if you're still building with a manager and you've got that experience now of WSL defending

and you bring that to the championship with a manager and a squad and a team who believed in that and in the way they were playing with some more expansive football, then you think that maybe you can take that into next season. Not saying they can't do that now, but it just kind of felt like a decision that was made on short-term thinking of can we just brisk it and do something to just give us one last go at it. But that doesn't give me the confidence of planning long-term for the future. But I do think in their defence it's such a big step up and we're going to see it probably more as we are also seeing it in men's football as well. That gap between the top league and then the championship is so big and when you look at the funding, you have to kind of bring in so many players to make it work. But when you bring in so

many players, that's also such a tough thing to have to then suddenly rebuild your whole squad. And often you're getting players who have played in the WSL for a while or kind of nearing the end of their careers or they're really, really young, so they're still learning their game. So it is such a hard ask and I really hope that it's a reminder to kind of everyone involved in the game that how much we need to develop those, not just the championship, but the leagues feeding into it as well, so that we don't see so much of a drop off. Because it would be a shame for the next few seasons to see something similar where we're just seeing the team that gets promoted then get relegated it just kind of feels like what's what's the point there you know

as much as as an Everton fan that that can be a relief for the for the wider game it's not what you want to see. No I agree with you on that I mean look it could have been very very different for West Ham because they were in that relegation battle earlier on in the season but I tell you what four goals from Shakira Martinez she's made such a difference coming in Amy hasn't she in that relegation battle earlier on in the season. But I tell you what, four goals from Shakira Martinez, she's made such a difference coming in, Amy, hasn't she? They're totally on the up. And actually, I can't believe I'm saying this. They're looking at a fifth place finish potentially. It's a real option for them, which we'd have never said at the start

of the season. Yeah. I mean, talk about making an impact. It's really nice to see as well. I remember hearing quite a lot about Martinez when she was in the youth teams years ago. And you know, it was kind of this much hyped kid and you know, she had a decent little stint in Germany having broke through in senior football there. But you know, not really exploded sort of like this. It's kind of nice to see, you know, like a young talent that maybe doesn't. A lot of people think when they, you know, kids are 18 doing really well, you just expect them to come on and just kick on and kick on and kick on. She's kind of like taking her time but made an impact now. And yeah, I mean, I think it's so interesting because last season as well, they were, you know, really struggling West Ham. West Ham and it'll be interesting what it does for next season as well like you know do they suddenly become one of those teams

that can kick on do they end up you know having a bit of a rubbish start to the season and they just kind of have a similar season to this like um but yeah they've had some they've had some really really good performances since start of the year year especially and she's brought so much energy and so much sort of like, just quality to the final third. And, you know, there might be a couple of clubs looking at her and thinking, you know, I know she's only just come in, but, you know, if I'm like, I don't know, like a Man United or something like that, you know, you might be like, oh, well, why don't we go get her, you know? or something like that, you know, you might be like, oh, well, why don't we go get her, you know? Yeah, why not? Well, I mean, plenty of clubs could use a striker, that's for sure. And I mean, you know, 10 games she's played, nine goals she scored.

I'll tell you what, if she gets called up to the seniors for Germany and the Lionesses do get through that first group, could potentially be meeting her in in the quarterfinals which would be some scary prospect for sure. Right Manchester City managed to edge past a resilient Leicester to keep the pressure up on Manchester United in the race for Champions League spots. It finished Leicester nil Manchester City one thanks to a second half strike from Jess Park. We've talked a lot on this pod about City's troublesoubles this season, Soph, but it was important for them. Even, you know, a lot of people look at that score line and think surely they should have scored more. Just to get back to winning ways is really important for them.

Yeah, absolutely. And to try and keep that pressure on United and third is really important with United not playing this weekend. I know they play midweek, but it just kind of adds that pressure on, you know, to the kind of race for the Champions League spots. They just needed to win the game. Leicester City are actually underrated in terms of their defensive performances. They've been pretty defensively solid all season. They've learned how to play without the ball. I think, you know, they average about 30 per cent possession every single game and they make it really, really tough for teams and, they average about 30% possession every single game and they make it really, really tough for teams and then they hit people on the kind of transition and make it count. So I think it was a good win to get. It was a tough place to go with

Leicester in the kind of form they're in at the moment where they are, you know, well, they're not at risk for relegation anymore. So they kind of kind of just end the season out how they want to and try and learn new things. And I think Oman Di Mugail is going to be trying to think about the future, think about the summer. And it's really about moulding her squad into that, trying to take what we can from the next two games, next three games into that summer. So that's going to be super important. But yes, the city got the job done, got it over the line. It wasn't pretty at times, but they did it. What also was important is Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood

both made their returns from knee injuries. Hemp obviously had an immediate impact registering an assist for Park's goal. Brilliant news, not just for City, but obviously with our England hats on, Amy. Yeah, and I think especially if you look at the Greenwood return, that left-back position continues to be a bit of a mind boggler for England.

And, you know, Vigman obviously tried something with Greenwood and Jess Carter just before Greenwood got injured. I think, you know, that's something that she'll definitely want to kind of try and renew that experiment moving into the summer. But then, you know, you're trying to do that when you've got really competitive Nations League games to do that when you've got really competitive Nations League games to do that's gonna be really interesting to see just yeah how she balances maybe wanting to see that as a potential solution at left-back while kind of needing to win these these two games

before that Jamaica friendly and then hemp yeah I mean I think especially with Lauren James out you know we've absolutely no information on just how significant that hamstring injury is for Lauren James so you know we've absolutely no information on just how significant that hamstring injury is for Lauren James so you know that Lauren Hemperton is already massive because of how kind of like talismanic she is as a player but you know it could be even bigger depending on what's going on with James there. Yeah definitely. Elsewhere Brighton returned to fifth spot with a last minute win over Everton.

You do realise we only ever invite Marva on when Everton have lost. I think maybe you came on once after your first win in goodness knows how long and it was like, was that a mistake? Ninety-third minute goal it was from Nikita Parys to edge past Brian Sorensen's side and actually the Everton manager signed a new contract with the club in midweek. Are you happy with that, Marvah? I am. I think he deserves it for what he's done this season. I wasn't too sure. At the beginning of the season I felt a bit like we didn't really have a plan B with him, which had been a problem for the last few seasons. But in all fairness to him as well, he's been

working with very, very little in terms of club funds and for transfers. And then he sort of got his funds in January. I thought they did really well with who they've brought in. And it's massively changed the way we play. Sorensen's really adapted to that, where we now do have a Plan B and we're starting to score goals. I mean, if you remember my troubles of last season, I would just come on this pod every week and just say we're creating chances and we haven't scored

a goal. So even in this game, yes we lost but to score two goals is something that wasn't happening last season or at the beginning of this season even. So yeah I think he definitely deserves it given kind of how he's adapted this season and what he's had to deal with in terms of all the insecurities going on at the club. Hopefully we're now heading in a new direction in that sense as well so he gets more to work with. This game, not nice ever to concede a 93rd minute goal, also not nice when it's Paris because she somehow has it in for Everton. I don't know what it is, it doesn't matter who she plays for, she scores against us every single time. But it was a very, very well-worked goal, I thought, Brighton actually, that overall play, played some fantastic football. It was a really exciting game,

it was very end-to-end and goals kept being scored just after the other one. The only worry for us is that everything I've just said there in terms of the people that we brought in in January, Fernandez is obviously low-knee and are we going to see what happened before when we had Jess Park and everyone and then it was like, oh they've gone, oh okay, now we're back to square one. And then also Gago, who's been just incredible and has just changed her whole season, she's already heavily linked with other clubs, which is just my life as an Everton fan. You start to like a player and then they go elsewhere. So that's our only worry but there's been so many improved performances and I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Sarah Holmgard as well who has had a sort of really understated season for what

she's done. I think she's got three goals and four assists at left back and it's just been incredible all season. So there's been some really real standout performances actually and I think Sorensen deserves a lot of credit for that. Yeah she opened the scoring didn't she as well, Sarah Homeguard. Not that far away over in St Helens, Liverpool came from behind to rescue a point in a two-or-draw with Tottenham. Anything stand out in this one, Soph? I think Liverpool will be frustrated because they will have felt that one was there for the taking. Tottenham are in such a poor vein of form or you just, they don't really know, I don't think anyone really knows what they're trying to do at the moment with Tottenham

and they seem to be stuck between defending and attacking and it's not really working very well. They are a different outfit when Bethany England's on the field. But yeah, I think Liverpool will be frustrated because they're looking for that first spot. I think they'll see that as two points dropped. For Tottenham, it was important to get a point. There was some scrappy defending at both ends. I mean, the own goal for Rachel Laws is one that she will want to forget. She literally bats it into her own goal, which is probably very frustrating for a keeper. But yeah, it's kind of that end of season game as well. I do think there are going to be bigger questions about Tottenham in the weeks to come. I think Liverpool are pretty settled.

I wouldn't be surprised if Amber does get the job, Amber Whitely. But yeah, I do think there'll be big questions for Tottenham over the summer because they haven't performed nearly to the levels that they should be doing with the kind of players that they have. Yeah, agreed. Right, let's have a look at the Barclays Championship. Penultimate day provided the thrills that we've come to expect over the course of the season and exactly what we predicted for you in our pod last week. How do we go through it? Let's go through it a little bit chronologically, I think we're going to have to. So Sheffield United lost 3-2 to Southampton in the early kickoff which

meant that Portsmouth knew victory at Fratton Park would ensure their safety and they secured it in style with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers to complete the great escape. Delight for Portsmouth, Amy. Heartbreak for Sheffield United. Where do both clubs go from here? Yeah, I think for Portsmouth it's like, you know, trying to kick on from that and not be in a relegation battle again next year, which is easier said than done, especially because, you know, the championship is... Every single year, you know, there's big investment going in at certain clubs, and, you know, new teams come in and put a lot of money in,

and, you know, then those that can't really do that have to try and keep up somehow. So, yeah, it's just kind of figuring out how you take those next steps, really, and kick on and climb the ladder. For Sheffield United, you know, it's... It'll be interesting to see what happens, obviously changed ownership this season as a whole club, how that impacts them as they try and get back into the championship now. It is a shame because, you know, we're talking about a club that has a fantastic... You've set up and give us a lot of chances to those young players. You look at

somebody like Mia Enderby who's doing so well for Liverpool, you know, she kind of came through at that Sheffield United system. You know, players like Lucy Watson who sadly hasn't really made an impact at Chelsea having done her ACL but was one of the best young talents in the Championship before she got that move. So yeah, it's just, I'm really interested to see what happens then with that ownership and you know, it's not easy to kind of navigate when you get out of that championship and hopefully there are a club that comes back up because you know, you look at, I'm talking from a Yorkshire perspective now, but you know, you look at this area and there isn't that sort of, that club that's providing that high level women's

football. So, you know, that would also be good for the area, I think. And, you know, it's a part of the country that's supplied so many England stars and you kind of want that club to be there, don't you? It's kind of what we talked about before with, you know, like a Sunday one and stuff like that. So, yeah, hopefully they'll be back and hopefully that new ownership really does back them. Yeah, it's really important, isn't't it especially for the youngsters coming through and having big games to be accessible to them and players that they can start to see themselves in

potentially. It is massive. Titles going down to the wire as well in the championship. London City and Birmingham both earned one all draws against Durham and Newcastle United respectively, which means London City are on 42 points and Birmingham are on 40. So only a win is going to do for Amy Merrick's side at St Andrews on Sunday. How do you see this one going? We said it was going to go down to the last game of the season. They play each other. I can't quite believe it. It's like a straight shootout. Yeah, it feels like a proper play of final, doesn't it? I feel like I'm just going to sit on the fence now. I'm not going to sit on the fence. I'm going to go out there. I'm

going to say Birmingham, do it. Because I think at home, they're going to need a win. I think it will be easy for London City to go, well we can play for a draw, let's try and sit back and kind of get a bit caught out between what they do, whether they defend or attack. And I just think Birmingham have that kind of that pedigree in terms of they've been there, they've done it before, but either way it's what we wanted to see as neutrals, isn't it? We wanted to see that go down to last night, and to have them play each other is incredible. And I think it's just such a great, great advert for the championship, which as we've said, has just been such a good league for so many years

now and I'm glad it kind of gets this big headline moment because it's what it deserves. Birmingham or London City for you, Soph? Well, I've been told I can't change my mind. So I called it for Birmingham at the start of the season. So I'm going to and I got into trouble for trying to change my mind about that when I saw London City play a couple of weeks ago. So I'm going to stick with Birmingham. I do think the home advantage will help as well. I think both clubs have done a lot to kind of get themselves to this level. They're both ready to go up, I think. So I think it really is, you know, just it's not like there's one's going to go up

and really, really struggle compared to the other. I think they're both in that good place. So that's what makes it really even better I think. I don't know whether you have to vote tactically, Amy, bearing in mind our predictions on the pod are terrible. It's a 50-50 chance. Who are you going for? Yeah, I'm just trying to think if I pick London City, does that mean that I've got more chance of being right if the predictions are usually bad? Well we've got two votes for Birmingham, which Birmingham are going to be devastated by and London City excited by, so you could try and half level it up.

I'm going to sit on the fence, obviously. Yeah, I mean I'm usually quite a jinx anyway, so it doesn't really work either way. I'll pick for London City, so we're, you know, we're not too Birmingham centred. It's going to be really interesting to see what happens if they don't go up London City, you know. You think about all the talk before the season of, you know, we want to get out this league straight away and the players that they brought in, you know, top internationals that, you know, they don't want to be playing two seasons in the championship. You know, these are players that played, you know, Champions League football. So yeah, it'd be really interesting. And it

also opens up that thing of why do we only have one promotion spot, I guess, doesn't it? Doesn't it just? Every single time. All I'm going to say is good luck to both teams and we'll discuss it next week. Just to wrap up the championship Katie Watson scored a 95th minute winner which meant that Sunderland got a dramatic win over Bristol City. That was a five-goal thriller that game. The championship is the gift that keeps on giving as is the FA Women's National League which concluded on Sunday. Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town were confirmed as champions of the FA Women's National League which concluded on Sunday. Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town were confirmed as champions of the FA Women's National League Northern and

Southern Premiers respectively. They both had their applications accepted and will play in the Barclays Championship next season. Elsewhere, Middlesbrough secured the Division 1 North title with a 3-0 win over Barnsley. They finished tied on points with Cheedle Town Stingers needing goal difference to confirm them as champions. Oh, that is so, so tough. They'll join Loughborough Lightning, Real Bedford, and AFC Bournemouth in moving up to the Premier Division next season.

But bad news coming out of Wolves after their season ended. In a post on social media one of their players Beth Merrick posted, imagine fighting for promotion all season just to find out our championship bid was never submitted. As a group we're absolutely devastated to finish the season this way and believes it speaks volumes about the club's ambitions for the women's team. I mean I just can't quite believe that so so disappointing which is an understatement, I think. What do you make of the situation?

Yes, kind of, unfortunately, a tale as old as time, isn't it? It's about men's clubs not respecting or backing their women's sides enough or putting enough value on their women's teams. And the Wolves have done an incredible job this season to take it down to the fact that they could have won the title on the final day in the face of Nottingham Forest, who conversely, in contrast, have put in massive funds to their women's team and really made it their ambition to get promoted. The players have done a massive job as has the manager.

And did I get that news on the final day of the season that they didn't even bother? I think I saw some reporting that it was because they were worried about relegation. But I mean, it's a wealthy club, they're not in trouble, they can fund their women's team. And I think they just need like, it's just another example of clubs not stepping up enough to support and value the women's team. And I just point to Tony Layton, who put up a post on social media. Obviously, the esteemed Tony Layton, who covered the women's game for many years, but he wrote, this is kind of smacks of the charter and athletic situation back in 2007 when they got relegated from the Premier League and then they scrapped the women's team.

And he just goes on to talk about, they're still gonna get parachute payments. Wolves, they're gonna have money to spend. There's no excuse kind of thing to not put in the support and the backing to their women's side and at least try. I mean, if you've met the criteria for the application, it just, it doesn't, to me, it doesn't make sense. It's just infuriating.

Yeah, very much so. And I actually thought Wolves were making, you know, brilliant steps forward. I remember going up to their training ground a few seasons ago and they were really investing and doing great work. And I know that we've got Wolves fans who are fans and listeners of the pod. This is the problem though, isn't it? Is that clubs are willing to do so much. So Wolves were probably, you know, one of the early, early-ish ones in the National League to kind of invest more money and try and, you know, build their player pool and turn the game to being more professional. Or that they only have two players and professional contracts,

but to try and make that move. But then others, you serve them or come past them and they're not willing to catch up. And we've seen it all over the leagues. You look at the WSL, right? And you look at Liverpool. They were initial funders when everything went professional. They won the WSL twice or three times. And then everyone else was like, well, we'll step up and invest more. And Liverpool, like, well, we don't need to. We've done enough now and then they fall down into the championship. It's the same story that happens across the game again and again. Yeah, limit. There's limits and ceilings put on everywhere. Yeah, let us know your thoughts, Women's Football Weekly at theguardian.com. Right, thoroughly enjoyed that. Thank you, Marva. Listen, we're running out of games for you for Everton to win. Next season, mate, I promise. Next season, we'll see.

Amy, lovely to see you as always. You too. Good luck this week. And you as well, up the bantams. Soph, lovely to see you. Great to see you too. See you later. Keep having your say. Send in your questions via social media or email us at womensfootballweekly at theguardian.com. As ever, a reminder to sign up for our weekly women's football newsletter. All you need to do is search Moving the Goal Posts. Sign

up. The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Sophie Downey and Hattie Moyer. Music composition was by Laura Iredale, our executive producer is Salamat. This is The Guardian.