Everton’s Italy international midfielder Aurora Galli cannot wait for Saturday’s Merseyside Derby against Liverpool at Goodison Park
16:36, 25 Mar 2026Updated 16:36, 25 Mar 2026
Italians are known for being some of the most passionate people in the world – both on and off the football pitch – so Aurora Galli has no problem grasping the magnitude of a Merseyside Derby.
Everton shocked Liverpool with a 4-1 win at Anfield in their opening game of the season but last month the Reds knocked the Blues out of the Women’s FA Cup with a 2-1 victory in the fifth round in St Helens. It was Galli’s strike from the edge of the area that got Everton back into the contest, crashing in off the post, hitting keeper Jennifer Falk on the way but ultimately, Scott Phelan’s side couldn’t find an equaliser.
The 29-year-old is looking for revenge this time out though in the neighbours’ high noon showdown on Saturday. Galli told the ECHO: “I am feeling the passion of the derby already. We don’t want to speak about red this week, I am from Milan, and I’m wearing blue still, so it’s good.
“From day one, the first game I was thinking about was the derby and on Saturday, we will give everything to get the three points. When I first got here, the men’s season had started before ours and everyone was out on the streets, wearing the jerseys and screaming, I was so curious to see what it was about.
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“At first, we were a little bit nervous to play at Goodison Park. It’s a big stadium, a very important stadium.
“The fans in there you can feel it, they are very close to the pitch. It’s impressive all the time, and when you’re in the tunnel, you can hear Z-Cars, and you’re like: ‘Okay, now it’s 90 minutes – with blood.’
“Now, we’re very happy and we’re very proud to play at Goodison.”
Galli, capped 66 times by Italy, was speaking while joining team-mate Zara Kramzar at a bracelet/bag-charm making workshop at LilliBet Beads on Lark Lane with a group of teenage Everton Women season ticket holders.
She believes it is important for the young supporters to have female football role models and said: “There weren’t many female role models in football for me growing up. For me, it was mostly just the men, watching with my dad and my brother.
“I didn’t even know there was women’s football. Slowly, I learned and Marta became one of my favourites.
“This was relatively late for me, so absolutely, I think it is very important to give an impression to the girls what we’re like away from the pitch, to meet them and provide something different.
“When you’re on the pitch, you’re thinking about the game and the result, but here you can show them the person, not just the player. They can see that we’re normal people.”
With no women’s stars to emulate during her childhood in the Lombardy town of Tromello, some 30 miles south of Milan, Galli’s favourite player was Javier Zanetti who turned out for Inter over almost two decades, making 858 appearances. She said: “He was just an amazing person. My family are all Inter fans, so I grew up seeing him as a very important person.
“I never thought that one day I could meet him but I did. I was like: ‘You are my idol!’
“I did an interview speaking about how important he was for me, and how he helped me to look forward to a life in football. After that, he just texted me – so now I have his number.
“I always tried to be like him because on and off the pitch he was incredible. He was always kind with the supporters and was a leader in the team, playing a lot of games, a very experienced player.”
Although like many Argentinians, Zanetti’s family were of Italian descent, Galli followed her icon’s lead by making a transfer abroad and by joining Everton in July 2021, she became the first Italian player to sign for a Women’s Super League club. She said: “It’s a very important role to have I think. Five years ago when I came, I was just trying give advice to the young people to try a different style, don’t just stay in Italy.
“We can grow in Italy, but for me it is more important to see the world and other cultures. I want to see different stuff all the time, so staying in Italy was not for me.
“When I had the opportunity to change and come to Everton, without thinking, I was like: ‘Yes, I’m coming.’ I hope more Italian players follow what I did.
“I think England was already the strongest women’s league back then, but it’s also about the different stuff you can do in other countries. It doesn’t matter whether you’re French, Spanish or whatever, just go around the world and see what is out there because while football is a big part of our life, there’s more to it than that.
“For women’s football, there’s a big difference between Italy and England. I’m not just talking about the way the game is played with it being more physical here, I mean with the facilities too.
“When I left Italy, something like Finch Farm, Everton’s training ground, only Juventus and Inter would have this. In Italy, we only really became professional with women’s football about three years ago.
“Now, they’re trying to invest in Italy, but in England they see women’s football as something that can grow every year. There is also greater competition here and if the champions Chelsea were to play Leicester City who are bottom, you still can’t say that they will win, 100%, because in this league, every team can take points off the others.
“This means that the intensity and the quality of the league is growing. Not just for the top teams, but for everyone, so it’s very good in that way, whereas in Italy is like the top three in a league of their own.”
While Galli is now one of the longest-serving players in the squad, Everton brought in 10 new faces this term and it took time for the new-look squad to gel. With Dane Brian Sorensen sacked as manager on February 4, the team are now working under a Scouser and lifelong Evertonian in Phelan who has been appointed interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Galli is pleased with how fortunes have improved – before the 2-1 loss at Manchester United last time out, the Blues had won their previous four WSL fixtures – and the midfielder said: “I think our team has been very good in terms of welcoming everyone. Of course, the younger players need more minutes to build-up their experience, but us older players can help them with that.
“The staff are helping all of us. I think Everton are a club who can take everyone and we can all feel at home and that is how I felt when I came in.
“I think Scott tried to come in slowly with his personality. He gave a lot of trust to the players and confidence to play how we know.
“He gave his ideas but also respected who we were. He didn’t change too much because he didn’t know us and we didn’t know him.
“That relationship has to build slowly, but I think he’s done very well in that way and how he approached it. We can see that he is a very genuine person and he just loves what he does with us and in turn, we enjoy the sessions and want to give everything in the games to take home the results.”
Tickets for Everton Women v Liverpool Women are priced at £12 for adults and £6 for juniors (under-18s), while a family ticket for two adults and two juniors is available for £20. To book yours today online, click here, call 0151 556 1878 or visit the South Stand Ticket Office at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Ahead of the action, there will be a host of family activities for supporters to enjoy, including a timely visit from the Easter Bunny, who will be hopping between concourses, handing out free chocolate eggs to young Blues.