Fridolina Rolfo has provided an insight into the mood of the Manchester United Women’s squad, ahead of Wednesday’s blockbuster clash with Paris Saint-Germain at Old Trafford.
The Sweden international admitted the Reds are hurting after Saturday’s narrow defeat to Aston Villa – our first Barclays WSL reverse of the season.
But Rolfo, who has won the UEFA Champions League twice previously, with Barcelona, sees the advantages in having this game come so quickly.
She added that there was an ‘energy’ about the camp, saying: “I think it’s a positive feeling.
“We were of course not happy with the loss the other day, so we feel [we want] a bit of revenge.
“We’ve been going through everything and I think that we all have energy and we are happy with playing a game so soon.
“It feels like the group are super excited and of course we’re looking forward to playing at Old Trafford. It’s a huge game and we can’t wait to play.”
Rolfo is hugely experienced when it comes to European football, having also played in this competition with Linkoping, Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich.
When asked to summarise what’s impressed her about her new team-mates, since joining in the summer, Frido picked out resilience as a key skill.
“I would say there are different qualities in the team. We’ve shown we can win even when it’s a tougher game,”
she added.
“In the Champions League we played Valerenga and Atletico Madrid, ending up winning both games against very tough opponents. I think that’s very important.
“We had a tough game at the weekend, I hope we can bounce back. We have a winning mentality and a young team, so the strength can be that we can grow. That’s something I really like about this team.
“We are still growing as a team. It will get better throughout the season but we are performing on a really high level. We’ve won almost every game so far. I’m really happy with how we’ve been performing and I hope we can continue like that.”
Rolfo was the matchwinner last time out for us on the continent, as her first-half strike in Spain settled the meeting with Atletico.
That victory, coupled with the opening-day success over Valerenga, has left the Reds in a strong position going into this encounter, and our winger says the prospect of European nights in Manchester were one of the major draws for her when signing.
“I do love playing the Champions League, of course. It’s something unique and something you want to be a part of.
“It’s one of the biggest reasons why I joined this club, because I do want to play those big games with such a big club.
“I do want to play in the Champions League and continue helping this team to reach even longer in this tournament, so we can go really far.
“It’s an honour to play it and I hope I can bring my qualities to the team.”