Amanda: "Manchester City is the team we all aspire to be"
The Atlético Madrid Femenino midfielder previewed tomorrow's clash with Manchester City WFC: "This tournament will give us a chance to see what level we're at".
Atlético de Madrid Femenino midfielder Amanda Sampedro previewed tomorrow's Women's Champions League opener against Manchester City WFC and urged fans to come down to the Cerro del Espino to get right behind the team as their support will be needed.
What lessons have you learned from last season's painful defeat in the Champions League?
The defeat we suffered in Germany was very tough to take - for the players, the coaching staff and for the club in general. It's something which we cannot allow to happen again and the only positive thing about was that it proved to be a lesson for us to learn from.
Atlético Femenino ready for new European test
What are your thoughts on Manchester City?
They have pace in attack - particularly on both wings, they press their rivals high up the pitch and we know that, for the whole 90 minutes - especially in the first half and the first 15 minutes of the second, they will play a very intense game. We have to be ready for them. On the plus side, we already know them, we want to bring out all of our best qualities and and try to set the tempo of the game. It will be a case of reading the game well and setting a rhythm we can play to.
What are Atlético aspirations in this new edition of the Women's Champions League?
We're going into the competition as league champions and winners of the Copa de la Reina; a lot of things have changed at the club and our objective now is to better ourselves day after day and become a stronger and more united team. This tournament will give us the chance to gauge our level in European competition and following on from that, to continue developing and growing. For us, Manchester City are the team we look up to and try to model ourselves on in terms of being able to compete - our aim is to reach their level.