Alessia Russo delivered another big-game performance on Wednesday night as Arsenal beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
She struck twice from brilliant crosses by Chloe Kelly and Beth Mead to secure the comeback win.
“It was a really important win tonight. Tough conditions but our fans were amazing. They were with us through it all and it was really important that we won tonight and it was nice to score the goals as well,” she said after the match.
“I think we know the attitude of the team. We’d seen it a lot last year, in tough moments we always rise. You can never count us out and I think we felt that tonight. We were really dominant in our second half performance, now we want to build on that going forward.
“Look, we can score all we want but if we’re not defensively solid, I don’t believe you win championships and you win tournaments. I think our backline and our back four were really solid tonight, and really important for us as well.”
She continued: “It was so nice. Not an easy night to come out, it’s freezing and you’ve still got me here doing an interview! But it’s amazing to have their support. They’re so loud, they carry us through the tough moments. They’re really special.”
Now Russo and the other Arsenal players head into international duty. England will face China and Ghana during the break. Russo said the timing works well despite wanting to keep the club momentum going.
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