Quick return – first match of the whole 2024

Arsenal is back on the winning track. And maybe even more delightful: Lina Hurtig is playing football again.

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Quick return – first match of the whole 2024
Photo: Stefan Jerrevång/TT

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Hurtig was substituted in during extra time in the Champions League match against Norwegian Vålerengen.

By then, the match was already decided – Arsenal won in the end with 4–1 – but for the 29-year-old Swede, the substitution was still a big deal.

Until Wednesday evening, Lina Hurtig had not played since Sweden's Nations League match against Switzerland on December 1 last year. After that, the forward suffered an injury and in April, Arsenal announced that she would miss the rest of the season for personal reasons.

Replaced Eidevall

Of course, it means a lot to her personally, said Arsenal's head coach Renée Slegers at Tuesday's press conference about taking Hurtig in the squad for the match against Vålerengen.

Renée Slegers also has reason to be pleased. The 4–1 win was exactly what Arsenal needed after a tough start to the season. On Tuesday, the team's Swedish coach Jonas Eidevall announced that he was leaving the job, and Slegers has stepped in as an interim solution in the search for a replacement.

Bayern Munich's fine start to the Champions League season continues, meanwhile. On Wednesday, the Germans followed up their 5–2 win in last week's premiere against Arsenal by beating Juventus 2–0 away.

Winning streak broken

Once again, Dane Pernille Harder (hat-trick against Arsenal) was the matchwinner when she scored the 2–0 goal after a corner in the 73rd minute. Previously, Linda Dallmann had given Bayern the lead in the first half in a similar way.

For Juventus, with Swedish national team duo Emma Kullberg and Hanna Bennison in the starting lineup, it was the first loss in a competitive match in six months. Until Wednesday, the Turin team had won twelve straight matches since the end of April.

In Bayern Munich, Linda Sembrant was substituted in during the final minutes, while both Magdalena Eriksson and Julia Zigiotti Olme remained on the bench throughout the match.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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