Page 30 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.17 2021-22

Arsenal to play Wolfsburg

Arsenal will take on VfL Wolfsburg in the quarter finals of the
UEFA Women’s Champions League, following the outcome
of the draw in Nyon.
The Gunners will play the German side, who were the
winners of Group A, at home in the first leg on March 22/23,
before travelling to Germany for the second leg on March
30/31.
The winner of the tie – which sees Arsenal appear in
the quarter final stage of the competition for a record 14th time – will then go on to face Real
Madrid or Barcelona in the semi finals.
Full fixture and ticketing details will be announced by Arsenal in due course.
Quarter final draw in full:
Bayern Munich v Paris Saint Germain
Juventus v Olympique Lyonnais
Arsenal v VfL Wolfsburg
Real Madrid v FC Barcelona
Semi finals:
Bayern Munich or Paris Saint Germain v Juventus or Olympique Lyonnais
Arsenal or VfL Wolfsburg v Real Madrid or FC Barcelona
Chelsea swoop for Russian defender
Chelsea FC Women are delighted to announce the signing of Russian international Alsu
Abdullina on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
The 20-year-old joins the club from Lokomotiv Moscow and will begin the New Year as
a Blue as they start the second half of the season. Alsu has signed at the club until June 2024
and will wear shirt number 27.
The versatile left back has been at Lokomotiv Moscow since 2020 where she has
enjoyed significant success playing in the Russian top flight, bringing her energy and
physicality to the team with 46 appearances and six goals to her name. Lokomotiv went on to
win the Russian Cup and silver medal in Alsu’s debut year, going one better to clinch all the
domestic trophies last season including the Russian League, Russian Cup and Super Cup, as
well as competing in the Champions League.
Prior to Lokomotiv, Alsu started her professional career at Chertanovo Moscow,
joining their academy at the age of 14. She played her first match for the senior team in April
2017, becoming the youngest player that season and went on to win the bronze medal in the
Russian Championship league in 2017 with the team securing silver in 2018.
Alsu also has considerable international experience having played for the Russian
national team since 2017, making her debut against Belgium in a friendly. Since then she has
gone on to make 30 appearances and scored three goals in that time for her country. Most
recently, the Russian defender has competed in the Women’s World Cup and UEFA Euro
2022 qualifiers and also participated in the 2019 World Cup qualifying stages.
Earlier this year, she was named in the Russian Women’s league team of the season
which is organised by the Russian Football Union for head coaches and captains from the
league to vote for their top players of the year.
Upon signing, Alsu told the Chelsea FC website: “'I am so happy to join Chelsea. This is
a big change in my life, a new challenge. I am very proud to be part of this team, which has so
many great players.
“I want to continue to develop as a player and progress in London. I want to help the
team to win as many trophies as possible.”
Issue no. 17 - 13 January 2022 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk