It was a great experience for the girls but this year they have their sights set even higher.

"Reaching the quarter-finals in the inaugural competition was a good result, but all the girls want to get further this year," club captain Sian Williams said.

The first round of the tournament is a group phase with Arsenal having been drawn with the domestic champions from Azerbaijan (Gomrukcu Baku) Spain (Levante Union Deportiva) and Belgium (K.S.C Eendracht Aalst). The phase is a round robin format with the teams playing each other once. The winner of the group will move on to the quarter-finals, which will be a two-legged knockout affair.

This year the group phase is to be played in England and the Gunners manager Vic Akers is proud to be hosting such a prestigious qualification event and hopes that playing on home soil will give his side an advantage.

"It is a great honour for us to be hosting this group stage, it gives us a really good opportunity to showcase our ability and the quality of English football. We hope that playing on home soil will give us the edge in progressing through another group stage, and all being well on to the latter stages of the tournament."

The qualification stage is a punishing schedule of three games in six days, which will be even tougher on the Arsenal girls who have just returned from the England squad that progressed to the World Cup play-off final after a tough battle with Iceland at the weekend.

But Arsenal defender Faye White, who captained England so impressively to victory on Sunday, is relishing the opportunity to play on the biggest stage despite the busy programme.

"I've got a day's rest and then I've got a UEFA Cup game on Tuesday," said White following England's victory at the weekend. "Then we play on Thursday and Sunday. That is what football is all about. It's good to be playing at this level, it's good to challenge yourself so I'm looking forward to it."

White also knows that if Arsenal do progress to the quarter-finals, the match will clash with England's play-off final, but she could only see the positives that playing in so many important games would bring. "You progress when you're playing at that level, you improve as a player, so I'm all for it. I like the challenge."

And White, like her captain Williams, believes that Arsenal are good enough to go even further this year: "We know we're a good enough outfit to progress a bit further and after watching the final, I know we could have competed at that level. So that's what we're aiming for. We've got a lot of internationals in the squad at Arsenal and I know the coaching we get when we're away with England helps us progress - the extra training, the extra fitness. We've also got young players like Leanne Champ in this squad, and others in the Under-19s, so that's a benefit to the club."

With the team finalising their preparations for this crucial qualification phase, they also received backing from Arsenal men's captain, Sol Campbell, who sees the importance of both teams doing well in Europe.

"Both teams are hoping to do well in Europe and it's very good for the club if we both win trophies. The ladies team are very experienced players in their own right and they have a lot of experience. We both want to be successful."

Ben Rice

Arsenal Ladies kick off their campaign tonight against the champions from Azerbaijan, Gomrukcu Baku, at St. Albans FC, KO 8pm. They will then meet the Spanish champions, Levante Union Deportiva on Thursday at Bishop Stortford FC, again with an 8pm KO before finishing their group stage against K.S.C Eendracht Aalst of Belgium on Sunday, with a 12pm KO at St. Albans FC.