Mariona Caldentey scores from the penalty spot [All photos: Jay Patel/SPP]

IT’S not quite mission impossible, but it is certainly a mission against all odds as Arsenal look to topple the best club to ever play in the UEFA Women’s Champions League if they are going to make it to May’s showpiece final.

The Gunners go into the semi-final second leg at the Groupama Stadium this Sunday hoping to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Lyon.

Beating the French champions is a monumental challenge in itself, let alone in their own backyard; in a competition that they have won a record eight times.

But the buzzword around the training ground and in all the press calls is a simple one: belief. Nobody is giving up just yet.

“Of course there is belief,” said Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers. “It’s half-time, and it’s a one-goal difference. We know it’s a big challenge against a really good opponent, but we believe, and we need to believe, that it’s possible.”

One morale-boosting memory being called upon stems from October 2022, when then-boss Jonas Eidevall guided the Gunners to a 5-1 victory over Lyon in France.

Arsenal’s Caitlin Foord and Selma Bacha of Lyon battle for the ball

Using that match to prove that the impossible is, in fact, possible, Slegers added: “It is similar, and they have similar players, but I think so much has changed in those years as well. So, not too much [of a boost] from a tactical point of view, but definitely from a psychological point of view and knowing that if you go there, you can do something.

“This is going to be a different scenario. Of course, Lyon are happy with the 2-1 here, and they will do everything they can to protect that lead. So it’s going to be a very difficult game, but we’re going to go there and believe that we can do something.”

More than 40,000 fans packed into the Emirates Stadium on Saturday to witness Arsenal dominate the possession and the opposition box in the first leg. But they were dealt a harsh reminder that it’s what you do with the ball that counts as strikes from Kadidiatou Diani and Melchie Dumornay earned Lyon, and former Gunners’ manager Joe Montemurro, a vital advantage over the north Londoners.

Sandwiched in between the visitors’ goals was a moment of hope for Slegers side. Leah Williamson was felled in the box by goalkeeper Christiane Endler, and Mariona Caldentey, who won the Champions League with Barcelona last year, stepped up to calmly fire home the resulting penalty.

Renee Slegers

You don’t have to search that far back to find another moment of odds-defying optimism.

Arsenal were trailing 2-0 against Real Madrid following the first leg of the quarter-finals before turning things around to win 3-2 – although then the Gunners had the boisterous Ashburton Grove army behind them in the second leg.

Katie McCabe is expecting to see a similar battling spirit this weekend. She told the Arsenal website: “We have to hold onto that belief. We’ve got a fantastic squad of players and a lot of experience. We’ll be very determined to get to work this week and turn it around over in Lyon.”

Hoping to hear raucous support coming from the stands, the defender added: “From the first whistle, we heard them [on Saturday]. Every step of the way, they pushed us. Before the equaliser, they helped us gain momentum in the game, which was unbelievable.

“We’re going to need that support from our fans in Lyon.

“I know we’ve always got fantastic support, especially away in the Champions League. They’re going to be so important for us again.”