Walti relishing ‘new opportunity’ to bounce back against Bayern Munich

Arsenal midfielder Lia Walti says her and her teammates are happy to have a quick turnaround and a game like Bayern Munich away after the disappointment of Sunday’s 0-0 draw at home to Everton.

Walti says the team were disappointed with the performance and the result but cannot wait to kick off their Champions League group stage campaign away at the German champions on Wednesday evening.

Speaking in the pre-Bayern press conference, the Swiss said, ‘After games like Sunday you want to play again and show that you can do it better. We all know that we didn’t show up on Sunday the way we wanted but there is a new opportunity tomorrow.

‘Football is a quick business and things change in every moment, I think we can turn it around and focus on that and create some chances in the game tomorrow. As a player, when you have a disappointing result like against Everton you want to bounce back as soon as you can.

‘That is a positive thing about a quick turnaround, we have another chance tomorrow, we know the quality of our team and we are really motivated to show the fans and everybody that we can do better, we are ready for tomorrow.’

Walti says the squad are excited to be back in the group stages after being eliminated in the preliminary rounds last season and believes the Gunners can improve on getting to the semi-final in 2022-23.

‘As a player you want to compete with the best teams in Europe, Bayern is one of the best teams currently. They are the best team in the German league and that is exactly who we want to be measured against and we are really looking forward to see where we are at.

‘The Champions League is a competition we all want to win, it is the biggest stage to compete against the best players and best teams in Europe. I believe that we belong there and I think we have the quality to compete to win the trophy with the team we have, so why not this season?

‘Why not have a good start tomorrow against the top seed in our group but we are looking forward to it and, as a team, we are glad we are back on that stage.’ Walti says the squad will use the pain of last season’s failure to qualify for the groups to spur them on.

‘Last year one of the most painful thing was watching these games and not being involved, we know we have the quality to compete with these teams and to go pretty far in the competition. It is a very strong group we are in but we are aiming for first place and for that, we need to win tomorrow. I think the team is ready.’

As captain of the Swiss National Team, Lia has the small matter of a home Euros next summer but she insists she is not looking that far ahead just yet. ‘I try to live in the moment, the season is long and, yes, the home Euros is coming up but so much can happen in football and you never know where you are going to be next summer, whether you are going to be fit or injured.

‘As I said, football is a quick business, you have to be right here, right now and tomorrow is the only focus for us, everything that is coming after is exciting but that is for the future.’ Walti recovered from a knee injury over the summer and has subsequently been in and out of the side so far in this campaign.

Australian midfielder Kyra Cooney-Cross has played in her stead on occasion and Walti, who joined the club from Turbine Potsdam in 2018, says helping to develop Cooney-Cross, especially in the defensive aspect, is part of her role as a senior player in the leadership group.

‘My role as an older player is to help younger players with their games and I think Kyra has a lot of strengths with the ball, driving it forward and I can look up to her there too and take something from her game.

‘But defensively, I do give her advance to step into the right positions and cover the team well. She does ask me about that and we are one team, whoever plays we support each other and I want her to improve her game because she is a big, big talent and can be big for Arsenal for the future.’