Arsenal battle blustery conditions to advance to UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-finals - 'Whatever the weather'

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Arsenal had to battle wintery conditions as they booked their spot in the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday with a comfortable 3-1 win over OH Leuven, sealing a 7-1 aggregate victory. A double from Alessia Russo and a penalty from Mariona Caldentey were enough as the reigning champions reached the last eight, where they will faceWomen's Super League rivals, Chelsea.

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Arsenal had to battle wintery conditions as they booked their spot in the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday with a comfortable 3-1 win over OH Leuven, sealing a 7-1 aggregate victory.

The reigning champions entered their play-off second leg at home with a four-goal lead after a dominant performance in the first leg.

And on Wednesday, Alessia Russo opened the scoring in the first half, only for Sara Pusztai to level for Leuven. Pusztai’s goal was originally ruled out for offside but it was awarded following a long video assistant referee review.

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But a penalty from Mariona Caldentey and Russo’s second of the evening - her 50th goal for the club - assured Arsenal of a comfortable passage through to the final eight.

Temperatures were low, there were high winds and lots of rain at Meadow Park, making conditions tough for free-flowing football.

And afterwards, Caldentey referenced a lyric from Arsenal’s pre-match anthem North London Forever as she praised the fans’ resilience for coming out to watch them.

"Well, it’s not my favourite match for sure, but how we say: ‘Whatever the weather’" Caldentey said. "I was saying to [Laia Codina]: ‘Wow, that’s amazing [seeing all the fans].' It’s warm on the sofa right? So we are so happy to have our fans with us and I can’t wait to see them again on Sunday."

Arsenal will play their Women’s Super League rivals Chelsea in the quarter-finals, after Chelsea came from a goal behind to beat two-time winners Wolfsburg and advance.

The first leg of their quarter-final clash is scheduled to take place at Emirates Stadium in March and the second leg at Stamford Bridge a week later.

"It’s the Champions League, it’s the quarter-finals so it will be really tight [against Chelsea]," Caldentey said. "We respect Chelsea a lot but we want to be in the semi-finals so we will try our best."

Arsenal are back in action on Sunday when they host Bristol City in the fifth round of the Women's FA Cup.

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