Zietz aflutter as final approaches

Having won the UEFA Women's Cup in 2005, 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam captain Jennifer Zietz is a seasoned European campaigner, but the prospect of a UEFA Women's Champions League final against Olympique Lyonnais is still giving her goose bumps.

"I am really excited and already looking forward to this first Champions League final," the 26-year-old told UEFA.com. "I get butterflies in my stomach just from hearing the words 'Champions League' and we've already trained with the official match balls. The excitement is growing."

Coach Bernd Schröder has been bringing his charges in for additional 08.00 training sessions ahead of the big showdown at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez. After a long, stressful campaign at home as well as in Europe, Zietz is hoping all of her side's efforts will pay off.

"Sometimes it has been tough mentally to recharge the batteries, so we struggled a bit at the end of the Bundesliga season," she said, "but now we are ready for the final, and I really like the idea that it's a one-off game now. It's easier to prepare for one final than for two; there is not too much room for tactics."

Zietz took on the captaincy when Ariane Hingst left for Djurgården/Älvsjo in 2007, with Schröder reckoning her a reliable player and a fine role model to younger team-mates. "With all my experience I can help to lead them a bit, and I am a link between the coach and the team," she explained.

Zietz's trophy haul is already a thing of wonder: as well as the Women's Cup, she has won a UEFA European Women's Championship, three German Cups and three Frauen-Bundesliga titles. However, the player who joined Potsdam as a 16-year-old back in 1999 knows her experience alone will not hand her side the title, as she urged her team-mates to "trust in our strength and passing and impose our gameplan".

While she insisted their was "no favourite" in the final, Zietz felt the relative strength of German football augured well. "The Bundesliga is very competitive; a little better than the French league," she said. "We played Montpellier a few years ago and I know some France players. Germany have always set the benchmark in women's football, as you could see at the EURO in Finland."