Chelsea, Juventus aim for Women’s Champions League quarterfinals as league phase ends
Four quarterfinal spots on offer and no shortage of teams vying to take them.
The Women’s Champions League heads into a hectic final round of games on Wednesday with Chelsea, Juventus, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich all strong contenders for direct entry into the quarterfinals behind leaders Barcelona and OL Lyonnes.
The nine games all kick off at the same time on a night which could see fortunes shift as fans and coaches keep an eye on scores from across Europe.
Quarterfinal fight
The first season with an 18-team league phase instead of the old group system hasn’t produced much jeopardy over the 12 teams who qualify for the knockout stages. Only a shock win for Norway’s Valerenga at Bayern could change the composition of the top 12.
What matters is the top four, who go directly to the quarterfinals, while places five through 12 must survive an extra playoff round.
With 13 points from five games, Barcelona and OL Lyonnes haven’t quite secured a quarterfinal spot mathematically, but will go to the final eight barring losses to Paris FC and Atletico Madrid, respectively, and at least three other results going against them.
That leaves two more quarterfinal spots open. Third-place Chelsea is in the best position to nab one on 11 points but has a tricky game against two-time Champions League winner Wolfsburg.
Juventus, Madrid and Bayern all follow on 10 points, with three more teams on nine including Manchester United, which visits Juventus in one of the most evenly matched of Wednesday’s games.
Arsenal in adversity
Arsenal is the defending Champions League winner but hasn’t always looked like it. Currently in eighth, Renée Slegers’ team is heading for the playoff round, barring a miracle.
Arsenal will be a heavy favorite at OH Leuven but unless rivals slip up, the reward for beating the Belgian team is likely to be only a more favorable seeding for the playoff round.
One potential outcome would be facing Leuven again in the round of 16 rather than tougher potential opponents like United or Paris FC.
Arsenal striker Alessia Russo is among seven different players tied for the lead in the top scorer standings with four goals apiece — Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor and Lyonnes’ Melchie Dumornay are among the others — and playing against Leuven could offer England forward Russo a chance to pull ahead.
PSG’s miserable run
Twice a Champions League runner-up, seven times a semifinalist, Paris Saint-Germain is not having a banner year.
With one point from five games so far, PSG is 16th of 18 teams and cannot advance. PSG is not just firmly in the shadow of OL Lyonnes. It’s not even the best team in the French capital. Paris FC is 10th and set for a place in the round of 16.
PSG does at least get the chance to avoid a winless campaign if it can beat Benfica, which is 15th and also eliminated.
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