UEFA Women's Champions League Group Stage preview
The UEFA Women’s Champions League is back, kicking off the 2023/24 tournament this week with a slate of eight matches. The first matchday of the UEFA Women’s Champions League this season has some big matchups. To get you ready for the games, here’s our Women’s Champions League preview.
The sixteen clubs that have qualified for the group stage are broken into four groups. And everyone will be chasing down a trip to Bilbao, where the 2024 UWCL Final will take place at San Mamés next May. Getting off to a fast start could be crucial for sides hoping to advance in the competition.
Women’s Champions League preview: Opening 2023/24 UWCL group stage matches
FC Barcelona vs Benfica – Tuesday, November 14 – 3:00 PM ET
The defending champions of the competition, Barcelona, host Benfica in their opening game. Featuring midfielder Aitana Bonmatí, who won the World Cup with Spain this past summer and the 2023 Ballon d’Or just a few weeks back, Barça will certainly be one of the favorites to win it all again.
Bayern Munich vs AS Roma – Wednesday, November 15 – 12:45 PM ET
It’s a battle of league champions as five-time, and reigning, Frauen-Bundesliga champions Bayern battle last season’s Serie A winners Roma. Both sides were knocked out of last season’s UWCL in the quarterfinal round, with Roma routed by eventual champions Barcelona and Bayern narrowly losing to Arsenal.
Real Madrid vs Chelsea – Wednesday, November 15 – 3:00 PM ET
These two sides tangled in Group A in last season’s tournament, with Chelsea winning the first match 2-0 at Kingsmeadow, and a split of the points in a 1-1 draw in Madrid. The Blues emerged as group winners, and went on to the semis, while Madrid bowed out in the group stage. Chelsea star Sam Kerr will be hoping to help guide the 2022/23 FA Super League champions to their first-ever UWCL title.
Aside from these heavyweight tilts, five other games round out the opening salvo in group play:
Rosengård vs Eintracht Frankfurt – Tuesday, November 14 – 12:45 PM ET
St. Pölten vs Brann – Tuesday, November 14 – 12:45 PM ET
Slavia Praha vs Olympique Lyon – Tuesday, November 14 – 3:00 PM ET
Paris FC vs BK Häcken – Wednesday, November 15 – 12:45 PM ET
Ajax vs Paris Saint-Germain – Wednesday, November 15 – 3:00 PM ET
How to watch the opening UWCL games
DAZN streams the UEFA Women’s Champions League live. The service, which also features boxing, MMA, darts, billiards, motorsports, and other events, currently will run you $19.99 a month. Initially, it was planned that for 2023/24 the majority of UWCL games would be moving behind that paywall, requiring a DAZN subscription.
However, it appears that strategy has been dialed back, as all eight opening UWCL games are scheduled for live broadcasts on DAZN’s YouTube channel. This is where many games in past seasons would be found free of charge as well.
In addition, on the YouTube channel fans can watch select games from major European women’s leagues. These include Germany’s Frauen-Bundesliga, Spain’s Liga F, Italy’s Serie A Femminile, and France’s Division 1.
Will past champions Barcelona, Frankfurt, or Lyon win another UWCL trophy for the collection? Or will a first-time champion be crowned? The journey to find out starts now.
Photos: Imago