Brondby v Glasgow City: Champions League tie is chance for players to shine

Glasgow progressed to the last-16 of the tournament by beating Russian side Chertanovo last month

Glasgow City captain Leanne Ross says Champions League football puts their players "in the shop window".

The Scottish champions travel to Denmark to take on Brondby in the first leg of their last 16 tie on Wednesday.

City stalwart Ross said playing at this level in Europe is another chance to showcase the talent here in Scotland.

"If they're ambitious and want to play professionally abroad, a lot of our players have been picked off at this stage after games," Ross, 38, said.

"It's difficult for us to keep losing our top players, but that's the nature of the game when we can't offer full-time football. So if they're in the shop window and teams pick them up it's fantastic for them."

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One of those lured away was Lisa Evans, who made the move to Turbine Potsdam after City's last-16 tie against the German side in 2012.

The forward then went on to feature for Bayern Munich, who she previously faced in Champions League qualifying while in Scotland.

Erin Cuthbert was also with the club when her current team Chelsea knocked them out at the last-32 stage in 2015, while Fiona Brown later joined their next opponents, Swedish outfit Eskilstuna United.

Ross continues to play a key role for Glasgow City after retiring from international football following the European Championship in 2017 and she sees the effect these tournament have domestically.

Despite the disappointment of their World Cup exit in France in June, Ross added that those players are "more driven" than ever and with "a point to prove".

"The younger girls see that it's possible to go and play either professionally or in World Cups and European Championships - that's driving them on.

"Because we've got so many players playing international football, the standards are really high so so they're always high in our club as well, because you can't just switch that on and off at international camp.

"So we're pretty lucky we've got a number of players who set those standards, those who aren't are told if they aren't hitting those standards."

'We've lucked out but it's going to be tough'

That quality will be needed again Brondby as City look to exorcise an 8-0 aggregate defeat at the same stage last year against Barcelona.

The Danish champions have reached the semi-finals three times, but were knocked out by Norwegian side Lillestrom at the same stage a year ago after defeating Juventus.

"I've played Brondby before," said Ross. "They're a really tough, typically Scandinavian team just in terms of being athletic, physical, direct. We'll need to be at our best to bring a result home.

"On paper they're the lowest ranked team in that pot so in terms of that, we've lucked out. But it's still going to be an extremely tough, tough tie for us."

With the midweek hosts full-time professionals compared to City, Ross acknowledges the gap between the two but insists they are continuing to improve.

"There's a lot of players in our team now who haven't been this far, there's a core of us that have been to the last 16 and a couple left who have made the last eight," she said.

"For the younger players it's a huge experience and step up for them, but I think we need to learn from every game we play to adapt and step up our game at every stage as you go up in this competition."