Swansea City’s Laura Davies relishing Champions League test
Ellie Lake of Swansea City in celebrates scoring against Briton Ferry Briton Ferry v Swansea City at Old Road in the Welsh Premier Women's League on the 8th April 2021. Credit: Lewis Mitchell/YCPD
Swansea City’s Laura Davies has expressed that she is relishing the challenge of facing CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Davies, who signed for the club from Abergavenny last summer, is set to experience European football for a second successive season.
The format sees the Swans competing in a mini-tournament with Moscow, as well as FC Dinamo and last year’s opponents, Apollon.
Swansea are guaranteed to play two games, either playing in the final to determine who will progress to the next round, or in a third-place play-off to compete for greater prize-money for the respective clubs and their leagues.
Moscow’s domestic season is well underway, with the professional Russian outfit sitting third in the table after 18 fixtures.
Winger Davies insisted that despite their underdog status, the Swans value the opportunity very highly.
“I’m excited. I had an experience last year, my first taste of it. It was short and sweet because we were only there for a night for the fixture, but this year will be a lot different.
“We’re going there for six days this year so I’m looking forward to the whole experience and I can’t wait to get on the pitch.
“We’re under no illusions that it will be difficult, but these occasions don’t come around often, they are quite few and far between so we have to take it all in and realise how lucky we are to be a part of it.”
From their 18 fixtures in the Russian Women’s Football Championship this season, CSKA Moscow have recorded ten wins, four draws and four losses, amassing 34 points.
The Russian side are currently trail second place by seven points and the top spot by 15 points.
Ahead of facing Moscow, Davies expressed that she is expecting a tough test.
“I think we’re expecting quite a physical game. I know the staff looked at some videos of their previous matches.
“Obviously, with them being a professional team and a seeded team, we’re expecting them to be physically fit.
“Compared to us, we’re not professional, we have full-time jobs or are studying, so it will be difficult.
“We’ll leave everything on the pitch and hopefully we can match them. We just have to try and play our own game.”
Swansea had an outstanding season in the Welsh Premier Women’s League last time out, remarkably going the whole campaign unbeaten.
Recording 13 wins and three draws to pip Cardiff Metropolitan University to make it back-to-back titles, the Swans also conceded just one goal in the whole league season.
The fantastic campaign was capped off by securing the Welsh Premier Women’s League cup, beating South Wales rivals Cardiff City 4-1 in the final.
Davies, who played a key part in the Swans’ successful season, insisted that the group can take huge confidence into the Champions League campaign.
“I think we need to take confidence from the league and the cup success into the Champions League, even though we know it’s on a different scale.
“I think last season for us was difficult for us, every team we played against battled and every game was hard, there was only a point in it at the end of the season, but we showed character and stuck to it and came out the other side, so we have to take confidence from that.”
Ahead of competing in the Champions League, Swansea have received the support of fellow clubs, players and coaches from within the domestic league.
Having earned the opportunity to compete in Europe through winning Wales’ top flight, Davies insisted that making a positive impression would be of huge benefit for the league.
“It would be massive. There’s no team in Wales in the women’s setup that are professional.
“We know that it’s important for the whole league that we give a good account of ourselves and show that there is quality in the country.
“When it comes to the Champions League, it’s always good to see other teams support, it’s nice that they get behind us.
“We know that there is that pressure, you want to prove a point for the league at the elite level and that’s what we’ll try and do. We’ll use the support and try and make people proud at home.”
