English Giants Face Tough Tests in Women’s Champions League Draw
Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City all landed marquee ties as the Women’s Champions League league phase draw served up a run of European blockbusters.
In Nyon, the holders Barcelona and eight-time champions Lyon emerged as the headline names – and Arsenal will have to go through both.
Arsenal thrown into the deep end
Arsenal’s path is brutal and box-office in equal measure. They will host Lyon, Benfica and HB Koge, the Danish side they brushed aside home and away in the 2021-22 campaign.
The real ordeal lies on the road.
Jonas Eidevall’s side must travel to Barcelona, Paris FC and Inter Milan, a sequence of away days that reads like a Champions League greatest hits tour. Barcelona, defending their crown, remain the benchmark. Paris FC are hardened European campaigners. Inter add another demanding trip in a group that offers no room for complacency.
For a club that measures itself against the very top, this is exactly the kind of schedule that exposes any weakness.
Chelsea’s Lyon reunion and a London showcase
Chelsea, beaten finalists in 2020-21, have been handed a draw that mixes narrative, nostalgia and opportunity.
At Kingsmeadow and Stamford Bridge, they will welcome Paris St‑Germain, Roma and league-phase debutants Austria Wien. Those home nights in London should be fierce: PSG bring pedigree, Roma bring craft, and Austria Wien arrive with nothing to lose and everything to prove.
The most intriguing chapter, though, will be written in France.
Manager Sonia Bompastor heads back to her old club Lyon, the record Champions League winners, in what promises to be an emotionally charged reunion. Chelsea’s away programme is completed by trips to Swedish side Hacken and Belgian outfit OH Leuven, both awkward assignments that could shape qualification long before the final matchday.
If Chelsea harbour serious ambitions of going one step further than 2021, they will need to navigate those journeys with authority, not just survive them.
Manchester City back in Europe – and straight into Bayern
After sitting out Europe last season, Manchester City return with a point to prove. Drawn from pot three, they avoided the absolute nightmare scenario – but this is no gentle reintroduction.
Andree Jeglertz’s team will host PSG, Real Madrid and Austria Wien. Those home fixtures at the Joie Stadium offer a powerful platform: three different styles, three different tests, and the chance to turn Manchester into a fortress early in the campaign.
Away from home, the challenge spikes.
City must travel to Bayern Munich, Hacken and Inter Milan. Bayern, semi-finalists last season, will see City as both a threat and an opportunity to reassert their own status. Hacken, so often underestimated, are notoriously stubborn on their own turf. Inter add another demanding European night to a calendar that is suddenly crowded again.
For City, who missed this stage entirely last year, this draw is both warning and invitation.
Blockbuster rematches and a packed calendar
The draw also threw up one of the ties of the league phase: Barcelona against Bayern Munich, a replay of their 2025-26 semi-final, this time in Munich. Bayern will also travel to face PSG, another heavyweight clash that could reshape the seeding picture long before the knockout rounds.
All 18 clubs were split into three pots of six, each team drawn against two opponents – one home, one away – from every pot. Arsenal and Chelsea sat among the top seeds in pot one; Manchester City, returning from their European exile, found themselves in pot three.
The schedule now comes thick and fast. Uefa will confirm exact fixtures on Saturday, 5 September, but the framework is set:
- Matchday 1: 22/23 September
- Matchday 2: 30 September/1 October
- Matchday 3: 28/29 October
- Matchday 4: 10/11 November
- Matchday 5: 18/19 November
- Matchday 6: 16 December
From there, the competition tightens. Knockout phase play-offs arrive in February 2027, followed by quarter-finals in March and semi-finals in early May. Warsaw will host the final in the last week of May, a new city waiting to crown Europe’s next champions.
By then, we will know whether Arsenal have survived their gauntlet, whether Chelsea’s reunion with Lyon has fuelled a title charge, and whether Manchester City’s return has been a cameo or the start of a long stay among the continent’s elite.
