Arsenal forward Beth Mead said she is “not the biggest fan” of the new format of the Women’s Champions League.
This season has seen the UWCL ditch the group-stage format in favour of the Swiss Model, where all 18 teams are placed in one league table.
Teams play six games — three at home, three away — with the top four clubs progressing to the quarterfinals. Teams 13th and lower are eleminated while those between 5th and 12th enter a playoff round to enter the quarterfinals.
“I’m not the biggest fan, I like group football and knockout football,” Mead told Disney+ after Arsenal’s win over Benfica on Thursday.
“I think that’s a beauty of football, but ultimately this is the way it’s now [and] we’ve got to play what’s in front of us.”
The England international opened the scoring for Arsenal in Lisbon with an instinctive finish near the hour-mark before Alessia Russo sealed the win in stoppage time.
The scoreline didn’t do justice to Benfica’s performance, with the Portuguese side’s defensive resolve frustrating Arsenal.
“It was tough, we knew we were going to come here and Benfica are a very physical team,” Mead said.
“They likes to get under your skin. Obviously we like to play football and we knew that we shouldn’t get involved …. It is hard, but we got the three points, got the two goals and that’s how it came in.”
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Benfica’s stadium, Estádio da Luz, was the venue of last year’s final where Arsenal stunned Barcelona to lift the UWCL.
Mead said their triumph means they come into this season with a target on their backs.
“Once you win it, everyone wants to beat you. And, ultimately we’ve got up our game again,” she said.
“We had an up and down Champions League season last season and obviously we don’t want to play out like that again.
“But we’re looking forward to the challenge. We’ve got to step up to the challenge and we’ve got to be even better than we were last year.”
