A memorable UEFA Girls’s Champions League season resumes this week with the primary leg of the knockout section playoffs, headlined by Arsenal’s makes an attempt to defend their title and a batch of first-timers who hope to increase their keep in Europe’s prime membership competitors.
The Gunners will face Belgium’s OH Leuven, who’ve turn into the Champions League’s Cinderella story throughout their first-ever stint within the competitors correct. Leuven went undefeated in opposition to a handful of well-regarded sides throughout the league section, proving their price in opposition to some Champions League regulars within the course of. How they match up in opposition to one of many recreation’s elites in Arsenal, who’re within the midst of a resurgence after a poor begin to the season, is one other query completely, although.
Fellow UWCL newcomers Manchester United additionally return to motion with a tie in opposition to Atletico Madrid, one that may supply a litmus take a look at of their progress within the midst of a memorable season. Two-time Girls’s Champions League winners Wolfsburg, in the meantime, will tackle six-time Italian champions Juventus and the fixture checklist is rounded out by Actual Madrid’s faceoff with Paris FC.
The winners of those ties await conferences with Barcelona, OL Lyonnes, Chelsea and Bayern Munich within the quarterfinals after that quartet secured direct passageway to the ultimate eight with a prime 4 end within the league section.
This is what it’s worthwhile to know earlier than tuning in.
The way to watch
Paramount+ and CBS Sports activities Community will every be a one-stop store for the primary leg of the Girls’s Champions League knockout section playoffs, with each platforms simulcasting all protection and each minute of the motion. Protection will start with a brand new version of the UEFA Girls’s Champions League At the moment pre-match present earlier than the early match, whereas studio protection resumes in between matches and concludes with the post-match present to recap the motion on Wednesday and Thursday.
UEFA Girls’s Champions League bracket
Knockout section playoffs first leg schedule
All instances U.S./Japanese
Storylines for the knockout section playoffs
Are Arsenal turning issues round?: The reigning European champions bought off to a gradual begin this season, a lot in order that they missed out on a direct berth to the Champions League quarterfinals and at present sit outdoors the highest three within the Girls’s Tremendous League as issues stand, which means qualification for subsequent season’s competitors isn’t any positive factor. They could have formally corrected course, although – they’ve only one loss of their final 14, a stretch that features lifting the inaugural FIFA Girls’s Champions Cup. The checklist additionally consists of spectacular wins over Chelsea and Girls’s Tremendous League leaders Manchester Metropolis in current weeks, a sign that the Gunners may be peaking at simply the best time because the enterprise finish of the European season begins.
They’ve an intriguing impediment in entrance of them in OH Leuven, the Belgian facet which have turn into everybody’s favourite underdog and reached the knockouts of their first-ever Champions League season. They went unbeaten in opposition to Paris FC, Twente, Roma and Paris Saint-Germain however their two losses within the league section may be telling. Defeats to Barcelona and Arsenal, who breezed by way of a 3-0 win on Matchday 6, point out that Leuven might nonetheless be a step behind the elites of the sport.
Can Manchester United hold going?: Manchester United have been on a gentle upward trajectory since they had been formally based in 2018, a path that has allowed them to achieve new heights this season. They at present sit second within the WSL, eight factors adrift of league leaders Manchester Metropolis however rising above the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal within the course of, and completed only one level wanting a direct berth within the UWCL quarterfinals, returning to their first-ever European season as a real darkish horse. Their knockout section playoff tie in opposition to Atletico Madrid, although, will take a look at them in additional methods than one as United proceed a memorable season.
United bought the higher of Atleti in a 1-0 win on Matchday 2 due to a aim from Fridolina Rolfo, who has been a boon since her summer season transfer from Barcelona. Rolfo has three targets for United within the Champions League to this point, doing her greatest to contribute to a goal-shy attacking unit that scored simply seven instances throughout the league section. United are additionally considered one of three groups that certified for the knockouts with a unfavourable aim differential, although U.S. girls’s nationwide crew goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce will probably be counted on to return up huge. Atleti, although, have their very own attacking star in Spain worldwide Fiamma Benitez, who has 4 targets within the UWCL this season. The Spanish facet additionally benefit from expertise – they’ve 4 of their final 5 two-legged ties in UEFA competitors, whereas United have one win and one loss, a sign of their lack of expertise at this stage.
