Sports
IT’S been 17 years since a British side first won what is now the Women’s Champions League, but a second European title could be on the horizon.
With Chelsea, Manchester City and 2007 winners Arsenal all qualifying, it is the first time that three English teams have reached the group stages in this format while Scottish champions Celtic are making their group stage debut.
Here is all you need to know for when the group stage gets under way this week.
How does it work?
Holders Barcelona qualified automatically for the group stages along with Chelsea, Lyon and Bayern Munich as the winners of their respective leagues.
The 12 other teams – including Arsenal, Manchester City and Celtic – had to go through a tough qualifying process in which two-time finalists Paris St-Germain suffered a surprise exit.
The 16 teams are split into groups of four, with each club playing one home and one away match against each club in their group.
The top two teams in each group progress to the quarter-finals, which will be played in March.
This will be the last time the Women’s Champions League has a group stage as the tournament is set to switch to a new 18-team league format for the 2025-26 season with nine teams qualifying automatically.
How will the British teams fare?
A Champions League trophy was the one thing missing from Emma Hayes’ collection when she left Women’s Super League champions Chelsea in the summer.
However, new Blues boss Sonia Bompastor has plenty of experience when it comes to winning in Europe, having led Lyon to Champions League glory in 2022.
As the only person to have won the competition as both a player and coach, Bompastor will hope to help Chelsea go one step further than their runners-up performance three years ago.
Chelsea start their campaign against Real Madrid on Tuesday – just two days after their WSL game against Manchester United was set to take place, but which was postponed because of conflicting schedules.
After two failed attempts at making it through the qualifying stages, Manchester City are into the group stages for the first time since the 2020-21 season when they fell to eventual winners Barcelona in the quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor’s side narrowly missed out on the WSL title to Chelsea last season and the City boss thinks his side “can go a long way” in Europe this year.
Arsenal were semi-finalists two seasons ago, but were beaten by Paris FC in last year’s qualifiers and fell short in the WSL title race – finishing five points behind Chelsea and City.
The addition of experienced midfielder Mariona Caldentey, a three-time Champions League winner with Barcelona, could take Arsenal to the next level.
Celtic, meanwhile,are the first Scottish side to qualify for the Women’s Champions League group stage since it was introduced in 2020.
The club have been on a remarkable rise under head coach Elena Sadiku, winning their first Scottish Women’s Premier League last season.
They cruised through the Champions League qualifying rounds, but tougher tests await in Group B against Chelsea and Real Madrid.
Who are the main contenders?
As the two-time defending champions, Barcelona will once again be the overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy in Lisbon in May.
The Spanish side, who have played in the past four finals, are aiming to become just the second club after Lyon to win three straight titles.
Their squad is full of players from Spain’s 2023 World Cup winning side, including Ballon d’Or winners Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas.
Lyon’s dominance in the Women’s Champions League has come to an end in recent years, but the French club will be seen as the biggest challengers to Barcelona, having defeated them in the 2022 final.
However, the eight-time winners are entering a new era without Bompastor at the helm and are yet to prove themselves under former Arsenal boss Joe Montemurro.
Wolfsburg, as two-time winners and runners-up in 2023, would usually be seen as contenders, but their status as Germany’s top team has been stolen by Bayern Munich, who have won the past two Frauen-Bundesliga titles.
Bayern have reached the semi-finals twice before, but they fell in the group stages last season after conceding a late equaliser to PSG in their final group game.
When do the fixtures take place?
- Matchday one – 8/9 October
- Matchday two – 16/17 October
- Matchday three – 12/13 November
- Matchday four – 20/21 November
- Matchday five – 11/12 December
- Matchday six – 17/18 December
BBCSport
A.I
Oct. 8, 2024
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