Soccer-Brann set sights on Women's Champions League upset against Barcelona

SK Brann coach Martin Ho is keen to prove that his side can get the better of reigning Women's Champions League title-holders FC Barcelona when the two sides meet in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, despite the obvious gap in resources. Facing a Barcelona squad bristling with internationals including Norway's Caroline Graham Hansen and Ingrid Syrstad Engen, Ho said he has no fears as his team face their toughest test yet in Bergen after making it out of the group stage.

SK Brann coach Martin Ho is keen to prove that his side can get the better of reigning Women's Champions League title-holders FC Barcelona when the two sides meet in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, despite the obvious gap in resources.

Facing a Barcelona squad bristling with internationals including Norway's Caroline Graham Hansen and Ingrid Syrstad Engen, Ho said he has no fears as his team face their toughest test yet in Bergen after making it out of the group stage. "What I've tried to focus on is how can we be most effective with the resources we have, how can we best prepare the players, give them confidence and belief that they can go into the game and be competitive and get a result," Ho told Reuters.

"It's more focused on what we can do to give ourselves the chance of being competitive, and I believe that on the day, with that bit of luck that every team needs, including the top teams, you can get a result." The 33-year-old Englishman took the reins at Brann last July and successfully steered them through a group stage, drawing 2-2 at home with French giants Olympique Lyonnais and edging out St. Poulten of Austria and Slavia Prague from the Czech Republic to qualify in second spot.

While Norway are one of only five nations to have won the Women's World Cup, the country's clubs have often struggled at the European level. But Brann's performances this term and the development in the team have caught the attention of many fans. "We can be flashy with the ball, we can be creative and on the front foot, but when we need to dig in and show our mentality, then we can do it," Ho explained.

PLAYING STYLE "I've seen a lot of progression in terms of our playing style, the way we want to play and the adaptations we can make in our game, but more important for me is having a solid foundation of being resilient, being hard to beat and being compact when we defend."

Ho's squad is peppered with young talents like Signe Gaupset and experienced Norwegian internationals such as keeper Aurora Mikalsen and midfielders Amalie Eikeland and Andrine Hegerberg, sister of Lyon striker Ada, and they are relishing the chance to take on one of the world's biggest clubs. "If you want to progress in the competition and you want to win those competitions you have to beat the best teams, so playing against Barcelona is a super experience for us," Ho said.

"They have the same kind of mindset as us in terms of trying to be a team that possesses the ball. I'm looking forward to the game." Regardless of how it goes against Barcelona, Ho says his side has broken new ground in terms of the expectations of women's club football in Norway.

"We weren't expected to get to the group stage, and we weren't expected to get out of the group, so we've already done the unexpected. I think if we were to get beyond the quarter-final stage, it puts Norwegian football on a really big map," he said. "It gets the league and the players in this group the respect they deserve because of their efforts, and if we get to the end of the second leg and we're in the position where we go through, more importantly we give Norwegian football the opportunity to grow and progress."

The two sides meet in Bergen on Wednesday, with the return leg in Barcelona on March 28.

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