Gunners Gulf and Gintra Goals

The fact I’m doing this blog should be enough to tell you that there’s at least some good news to come. But first, let’s start off with the bad.

Rangers are out of the women’s Champions League qualifying, as was unfortunately expected given the draw they were given. The 6-0 defeat to Arsenal was as clear an indication about the gulf that exists in women’s football as you’re likely to see.

This is a Rangers team that went into the game having scored 43 goals and conceded none in just five SWPL matches, and an Arsenal team that haven’t started their season yet. I dread to think what would happen if Arsenal played Dundee United, the team Rangers thumped 10-0 last weekend.

The women’s game seems to be, depressingly, suffering from the same problem as the men’s. Our bigger teams are too big for domestic competition, but not big enough for European competition. It just seems to be even harsher a reality in the women’s game given the big scorelines we’re seeing. How do we fix that? That feels like a conversation for people who know far more than I do – but I suspect it’s not something that can be fixed as once more it likely comes down to money.

Although Rangers can no longer progress, they do have their third place match to play against Atletico Madrid. Rosenborg beat them on penalties on Wednesday to go on to face Arsenal for a place in the second round of qualifying, and so both teams now face this pointless match.

There’s no hope of progress, no medals to be won, just a bit of pride which might be sorely needed after the reality check of Wednesday night. Although it’s going to be a tough test for Rangers, and maybe that’s what really matters here. Another chance for them to test themselves against truly quality opposition.

The game kicks off at 12pm, with the Arsenal v Rosenborg game taking place at 7.30pm if anyone still cares at this point.

Atlético Madrid will be disappointed not to progress further themselves, having reached as far as the quarter finals in 2019/20, as well as reaching the last sixteen on three occasions (2015/16, 2018/19 and 2020/21) and a round of 32 exit in 2017/18. This was their first appearance in the competition since losing 3-1 on aggregate to eventual finalists Chelsea in 2020/21.

Whilst Rangers bow out after their lunch time match today, Celtic will hope to continue to their campaign into the second round of qualifying, somewhere they haven’t managed to reach yet. On Wednesday, Celtic needed extra time to beat KuPS, coming from behind to level it at 1-1 after ninety minutes, before eventually winning 3-1. Saoirse Noonan coming off the bench to score a hat trick.

Standing between them and that goal are the hosts FK Gintra, who beat Agarista Anenii Koi 5-0 in the second of the two games on Wednesday (can’t find a video of it unfortunately). The teams will meet at 4pm oor time today, with KuPS and Agarista Anenii Koi in the 10am pointless match.

Whilst Celtic are only in their third European campaign, Gintra are an old hand at this. They’ve won the Lithuanian league every season since 2005, and as such have featured in ever single Women’s Cup and Champions League edition.

And if the name sounds familiar, then that might well be because they exited the competition at this stage, once again as hosts, twelve months ago thanks to a 3-0 win by Glasgow City. Brenna Lovera, Kenzie Weir and Lauren Davidson with the goals that day.

Gintra don’t seem to have much luck at this stage. They’ve exited at the first round since this format was brought in for the 2021/22 season, despite hosting it on all but one occasion!

Indeed, of all the competitions they’ve taken part in, they’ve only made it out of the qualifying phase on three occasions. In 2014/15 they made it to the last sixteen, beating Sparta Prague 5-4 on penalties after a 2-2 aggregate score in the last 32 before bowing out 5-2 on aggregate against Brondby.

In 2017/18, they again reached the last sixteen, beating FC Zurich 3-2 on aggregate in the last 32 before bowing out 9-0 on aggregate against Barcelona.

Most recently, they faced Slavia Prague in the last 32 in 2018/19, but lost out 7-0 on aggregate.

Last season’s defeat to Glasgow City wasn’t the first time they’d faced that particuarly Scottish side though. Back in 2009/10 qualifying, Glasgow City were 2-0 winners, Ruesha Littlejohn and Jane Ross with the goals that day.

Celtic lost out in the semi final stage three years ago, and lost out in the final stage last year, so they’ll be looking to take that next step and get into the second round of qualifying for the first time. Should they do that, the draw will take place on Monday and they’ll find out who their opponent might be. The good news for Celtic, is the champions and league paths are still separate, so it definitely couldn’t be Arsenal! The two legs would be due to take place in the second half of September, so not too long to wait either.

But first they have to get there. Good luck to Celtic today! And also to Rangers even if that game is pointless.