Lyon

The fact it appears to be isolated errors which are proving costly gives Arsenal some hope that there is a clear path to reviving their campaign.

Captain Kim Little said after the match that the team “cannot always be perfect all of the time”.

“We’re in a lower space just now with the current form, but we’ll come back stronger. We go into our league fixture at the weekend for a big three points,” Little told Disney+.

Understandably, Slegers said her side are “not happy” with their form, but their experience which led to winning this competition last year gives them reason to remain positive.

They lacked a cutting edge in attack and only managed half as many shots as Lyon, but they also lost 2-1 to the French side in the first leg of the semi-final in this competition last year and bounced back to win the second game 4-1 in France.

There is no second leg this time, with this a group phase game, but Arsenal will look to rebound all the same at the first opportunity.

“The important thing is that we manage it really well and we give direction moving forward and stand strong,” said Slegers. “The positive thing is that we have strong foundation in a cultural perspective and a football perspective.

“We need to keep on believing in that philosophy and it gave us a lot last year. When it starts clicking, we know how good we are.”

Should they fail to beat Brighton in the league on Sunday (14:30 BST), they will have gone a month without a win.

“I think there’s lots to it,” Russo said of Arsenal’s slump. “I think, first and foremost, we need to look at ourselves and how we can push our standards. We’re sometimes letting teams get attacks on us by our own mistakes.

“We need to take accountability, we need to focus on what we can do to control that from everyone. It’s all across the pitch. There’s moments in that that were really positive so we’ll lean on that and get ready for Sunday.”

It was at the start of the game where Arsenal were at their best, getting an early goal and showing their attacking qualities, but they could not sustain it.

“In the first 20-25 minutes, they started the game [well], the goal that they scored… but it is fine margins,” added Smith. “And if you make a couple of errors against a top-quality side like Lyon, then they will punish you.

“In the final third, they just needed to be a bit better, more clinical. But certainly positives to take.”

French club Lyon have been demoted to Ligue 2 because of the poor state of their finances.

The club were provisionally demoted by the DNGC, the body which oversees the accounts of French professional football clubs, in November.

Lyon officials including owner John Textor, met with the DNGC on Tuesday but failed to convince the body that the club had sufficiently improved their financial situation to lift the punishment.

Last October, his Eagle Football Group announced debts of £422m.

Seven-time French champions Lyon raised around £45m with the sales of Maxence Caqueret to Como in January and Rayan Cherki to Manchester City in June in an attempt to improve their finances.

High earners such as Alexandre Lacazette and Anthony Lopes have also been released.

Lyon have the right to appeal against the decision. Should it stand, Lyon will be replaced in the top flight by Reims, who were beaten in the relegation play-off by Metz.

Textor is also the largest shareholder of Brazilian club Botafogo and co-owner of Premier League club Crystal Palace, though he agreed a deal to sell his 46% stake in the Eagles on Monday.

Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup but their place is in doubt because Lyon also qualified by finishing sixth in Ligue 1.

Textor’s perceived involvement with both clubs could be in breach Uefa rules, which prevent multiple teams under one multi-club ownership structure competing in the same European competition.

The Eagles hope Textor’s decision to sell his stake to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson will avoid that scenario.

Scottish referee Hollie Davidson will become the first female to take charge of a European Professional Club Rugby final when she officiates Bath v Lyon in the Challenge Cup final at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 23 May.

Davidson has been part of on-pitch officiating teams in the past two Six Nations championships and the 2024 Rugby Championship.

She will also be the first Scot to referee an EPCR final since Jim Fleming in 1998, which Bath won against Brive in Bordeaux.

And in July, Davidson will take charge of South Africa v Italy in Pretoria.

“European rugby is the pinnacle of the professional game, and to be named as the Challenge Cup final referee is something that I never thought was possible when I was starting out,” Davidson told Scottish Rugby.

“It has been a long time since a Scot has done a final, so I am just absolutely over the moon to be named as the referee for such a big game.”