Little, the Arsenal captain reflected on what it means to her to lead her side out in such a huge final

“It’s incredibly special to be here and in the final tomorrow… the history of our club and what we achieved in 2007 and all the club has done throughout that time to really progress the game… it’s obviously so special to be here, to lead the club in this really special occasion.”

The players are expecting a challenging game, but are prepared to fight 

Russo told the media about the team’s expectations for the final; 

“The game we’re expecting tomorrow, I think we know that Barcelona are a top side. They have won on the highest level consistently. We’re well aware of that, but I have full belief in us as a team. The journey that we’ve been on and some of the performances that we’ve put in this season, we know what we’re capable of.” 

The team aren’t internalising the media’s narrative of Arsenal as the underdogs 

Russo was asked whether she feels like Arsenal have been slightly written off by the media heading into this final, she was quick to defend the team: 

“I also believe we are a very good football team, and the way that we play and the way that we win games is something that, as a player you want to be in teams like that, we play some great football. Maybe there is a bit of that, but internally we know how good we are, we know the style that we want to play.” 

The 2007 winners are supporting this Arsenal side all the way 

Little told the media that the team had lunch with the 2007 European Trophy-winning Arsenal side this week, which helped them understand the magnitude of the occasion: 

“For them to have done that [won] was incredibly special... I know some of them personally, but some of the other players got to meet them and interact, obviously there’s that common thing of being Arsenal, it’s a really special thing to see that and talk about it… former players coming up and saying how proud they were of us. Arsenal as a club, is one of the best and one of the most unique in that sense.” 

This Arsenal squad is full of belief 

Russo spoke of the belief running through the squad ahead of the final: 

“Belief is something we’ve spoken about a lot as a team this season and we’ve also found lots of different ways to win this season… I have full belief going into the game tomorrow, we’ve been working really hard as a team and we know what we’re capable of and we’ll do our best to go out and play as well as we possibly can.”