Kerstin Gerfrekes And Ana Maria Crnogorčević Celebrate Frankfurt's First Goal Against Arsenal

After helping her side overcome Arsenal LFC 4-1 on aggregate to reach their first UEFA Women's Champions League final 1. FFC Frankfurt midfielder Kerstin Garefrekes decribed the prospect of playing at Munich's Olympiastadion on 17 May as "something special", while defender Alex Scott, along with several team-mates, accepted the result was fair after being punished for "sloppy mistakes".

Kerstin Garefrekes, Frankfurt midfielder
It is something special to reach a Champions League final, especially as it will take place on German soil. We're glad we managed to go through and get the chance to play the final in Munich. We didn't give a lot away today and were strong in the tackle, which is why Arsenal weren't that dangerous. We worked hard as a team and deserved to win. We know our strengths and we didn't just want to hold on to our first-leg advantage. We are attack-minded, we can and always want to score.

Kim Kulig, Frankfurt midfielder
Arsenal are a very strong side, but we are strong too. I think we had the game under control and we deserved to reach the final. We gave a good team performance and Saskia Bartusiak was back organising the defense. We played well defensively and that was the key to our success. We're happy to play the final on German soil and I think we definitely have a chance of winning the title ‒ it doesn't matter whether it is Lyon or Potsdam.

Jessica Landström, Frankfurt forward
It feels great to win 2-0. We wanted to score today as well and not just focus on not conceding. You cannot play a game by only defending, we didn't have any plans just to defend.

Sven Kahlert, Frankfurt manager
Congratulations to Arsenal for being a strong opponent. We needed to give everything physically and I am happy that we reached the final. I was not pleased with our offensive performance in the first half, but it got better in the second half.

Alex Scott, Arsenal defender
Last week it was there for us to win the game, but today possession was not good enough and we made too many sloppy mistakes and they punished us and deserved to win today. At half-time we said, we would go out and score two goals, but then the game opened up and they punished us. We got to a semi-final, so you are pleased with that, but in our hearts we wanted to get to the final and we felt we had the squad to get there. When we play in away legs we need to be better in possession. You can't give away the ball that much at this level and we need to finish our chances.

Kim Little, Arsenal midfielder
The quality on the ball wasn't good enough. We played better in the first leg and not well enough today, Frankfurt deserved it over the two legs. We started well in the first leg, but didn't convert our chances into goals ‒ that's what has hurt us the most. We didn't concede for an hour today, but even in the first half we didn't create enough chances to score. We defended pretty well in the first leg and did OK today, but obviously our quality in the final third especially needs to be a lot better when we play at this level.

Rachel Yankey, Arsenal forward
It was not our day today, the better team won. We knew what we had to come here to get goals, but unfortunately we didn't do that. We tried and gave everything we had but it just wasn’t enough in the end. Today we weren't really good on the ball, their quality was a lot better than us.

Laura Harvey, Arsenal manager
We didn't play very well in the first half. In the second half the first goal was crucial. Last week it was our biggest disappointment, as we knew Frankfurt are very good at home. We thought that not winning the game last week was going to be hard for us. They were the better team today.

Ashley Cole Warned "Not To Take Your Eye Off The Ball" Against FC Barcelona

With memories of the 2009 semi-final defeat by FC Barcelona still vivid, Chelsea FC's Ashley Cole has warned his side "not to take your eye off the ball for a minute" on Wednesday.

Given that Chelsea FC are facing UEFA Champions League semi-final opponents who defied them in the dying seconds at this same stage three years ago, it is little wonder defender Ashley Cole has warned his side "not to take your eye off the ball for a minute" against FC Barcelona. "Any one of them could step up and do something magical," he told.

Cole remembers all too readily the agony of that semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge, when his side were seconds away from what would have been a repeat of the previous year's final against Manchester United FC. Michael Essien's early opener had seemingly done enough to earn the Londoners victory, until Andrés Iniesta crashed in a dramatic added-time equaliser to take the eventual champions through to the Rome showpiece on away goals.

The England left-back believes Chelsea paid the price for dropping their guard, and that is not a mistake he intends to repeat when Josep Guardiola's holders come calling again on Wednesday for the first leg in London. "Against a team like that you have to be concentrated for not just 90 minutes, but 94 or 95 minutes," said Cole. "We were doing well until the [93rd] minute when Iniesta stepped up with a great goal. So we know it's going to be tough.

"They've got a great manager who has been in this situation for years, and they've got so many world-class players that you can't take your eye off the ball for a minute, because any one of them could step up and do something magical. So we've got to be fully on our game."

No pre-match build-up involving Barcelona is complete without reference to three-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi, who has equalled Gerd Müller's long-standing competition scoring record with 14 goals this European campaign. Yet excellent though the Argentina forward has been, Cole knows there are more strings to the Azulgrana's bow than their famous No10.

"They are not just a one-man team," said Cole. "Everybody says it's all about Messi, but I don't think that's the case. All their players are world-class. Everyone thinks you've got to stop Messi and that's it, but then you get the other players who contribute. We know we've got to stop more than just Messi."

Despite the onerous nature of the task that awaits them Chelsea are in fine form. Since the departure of André Villas-Boas they have rediscovered their belief, winning nine of their last 12 matches, including Sunday's 5-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat of Tottenham Hotspur FC. Back in the last four of the UEFA Champions League for a sixth time in nine years, they also boast a 100% record at Stamford Bridge in this season's European campaign.

"The players are buzzing," added the 31-year-old veteran of 92 UEFA Champions League matches. "We went from a bad patch to progressing to the [final] of the FA Cup, and the semi-final of the Champions League ‒ not many people would have said we'd have got there in January or December. We've started to come on more as a team now, and thought 'it's down to us', because we've seen the manager go, and that was our fault, so now we've got to change things. It has turned around and hopefully we can now go on and win a trophy for the fans."

Forward Diego Lauded Atlético For Playing "Intelligently" To Reach The UEFA Euopea League Semi-finals

Forward Diego lauded Club Atlético de Madrid for playing "intelligently" to reach the UEFA Euopea League semi-finals, while Hannover 96 midfielder Jan Schlaudraff to stay positive in defeat.

Club Atlético de Madrid playmaker Diego said his team were "very happy" to have reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League as the Spanish side brought an end to Hannover 96's unbeaten home record with a 2-1 victory in Germany. Meanwhile, the hosts' midfielder Jan Schlaudraff was left feeling dejected in spite of the club's best ever European campaign, but was trying to look on the bright side when he spoke to.

Diego, Atlético midfielder
We're very happy. I have another chance to play a semi-final, which is very important for any player. Today was an important step and I was very happy to help my team. It was very tough. I think it's been 11 months since [Hannover] lost here and they're a very strong team. To come here and win took a very good performance. We played intelligently and managed to get the result.

I hope we can win the Europa League this year, but it's still too early to be talking about things like that. Of course that's our objective, but we have to get through the semis first. It's going to be a very difficult game against Valencia, but it will be a special night with two Spanish teams.

Thibaut Courtois, Atlético goalkeeper
We defended really well in the first half, but we weren't getting anywhere up front. At half-time the coach said we needed to play differently and we were much better in the second half, scoring two goals. A semi-final is very special for any player as they may only get to play in a handful during their career. Now we're up against Valencia, who are one of the best teams in Spain, so we'll see what happens.

Jan Schlaudraff, Hannover forward
I think Atlético deserved to go through. We knew that as long as it remained 0-0, we were in with a chance as we're always capable of scoring a goal. We weren't great going forward in the first half, but we were excellent at the back and didn't let anything through. Obviously, we wanted to find a breakthrough, but it was difficult after their goal. After the equaliser we had a very good phase, but they punished a needless loss of possession and that proved decisive.

I think our disappointment outweighs our pride at coming this far. That said, if you look at our season as a whole it's been very positive. Now we want to push on and make sure we're involved again next year.

Mohammed Abdellaoue, Hannover forward
Of course it's very disappointing. I thought it was very tight in the first 45 [minutes] and neither side created many chances. We knew that we had to be patient and that one goal could change the whole game. We were still in it until the end, but when they scored it made things very difficult.