Arsenal beat Bayern Munich 2-0 on Wednesday to progress to the last four of the Champions League 2-1 on aggregate thanks to goals from Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius; Jonas Eidevall: "I got a very nice message from Edu after the game. The support from whole club is magnificent"
Thursday 30 March 2023 19:45, UK
Jonas Eidevall revealed Arsenal sporting director Edu sent him a message of congratulations after his side reached the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in a decade.
Arsenal Women beat Bayern Munich 2-0 on Wednesday night at the Emirates to progress to the last four of the Champions League 2-1 on aggregate thanks to goals from Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius.
Eidevall is looking to become the first head coach to lead a British side to glory in this competition since 2007 - when Arsenal beat Swedish side Umea to win it - and he says he has the full backing of everyone at the club.
"I got a very nice message from Edu after the game," Eidevall said.
"The support from the whole club is magnificent. There is a lot of talk about always acting with class - you really understand the meaning of that when you're inside the organisation.
"It's ingrained and it spreads down in the organisation. Communication and belief from them is amazing."
Arsenal produced a near-perfect first-half display to fire two goals past Bayern and take the lead on aggregate, and Eidevall thinks his side have now shown they can take on anyone.
Arsenal will play Wolfsburg in the two-legged semi-final, to be played over the final two weeks of April.
"It's been a long-term goal to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League," he said. "I am very happy that we're going to the semi-finals. It's an incredible achievement that we are so proud of - I told the players before the game, we have the potential to beat any team when we hit all things perfect.
"That doesn't mean it's easy or we can do it every time. But we now have that potential. So if we have that wouldn't it be incredible and beautiful if we can bring that to one more stage in this competition, to see how strong our wings are, and how high we can fly together.
"We managed to do that today, that's a proud moment for the whole club. If we hit it right we can beat any team. It also means there is a lot of work going into performances to be consistent. I don't take anything for granted.
"We need to deal with every situation and do our very best."
Arsenal lost captain Kim Little to an injury early on before Katie McCabe was helped off with a knock in the closing stages, but Eidevall was unable to provide an update on their status.
Eidevall will be hoping they can recover quickly ahead of Sunday's huge game against title rivals Manchester City in the Women's Super League. Arsenal trail second-placed City by three points but have a game in hand.
"I don't know [on the injury front]," he said. "We need to use the hours this evening and tomorrow in order to get a clear understanding. When we have more information we will update."
Leah Williamson, who took the captain's armband after injury forced Kim Little from the field in the first half of Wednesday's second leg, hailed the side's achievement as "historic" and vowed they will be ready for Wolfsburg in the semi-finals.
"Historic for this current group of players," she told Sky Sports. "A place that hardly any of us have played before, in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
"It’s a step forward in the right direction. We’re ready."
The victory over Bayern was even more special for Williamson as it came on the same night she was celebrating her 26th birthday, with the England captain saying: "Starting off year 26 as we mean to go on I hope.
"But I think that would have been a lot easier if I wasn’t 26! I felt that extra year today!"
