Women’s Champions League Draw: Arsenal, Chelsea, and City Face Tough Challenges
Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have been handed heavyweight assignments in a revamped Women’s Champions League league phase that reads like a who’s who of the European game.
Arsenal dropped into a gauntlet
Arsenal’s path is brutal. They will share a section with holders Barcelona and eight-time champions Lyon – a draw that pits them against the competition’s modern powerhouse and its most decorated club.
At Meadow Park, Jonas Eidevall’s side will welcome Lyon, Benfica and HB Koge. The Danish side bring good memories: Arsenal beat them home and away in the 2021-22 campaign. Those are the fixtures the Gunners simply have to dominate if they want to live with the giants in this group.
The real test comes on the road. Trips to Barcelona, Paris FC and Inter Milan will stretch the squad and expose any weakness in depth. Barcelona, still the benchmark in Europe, will expect to control the ball; Arsenal will need to live off fine margins. Paris FC and Inter may not have the same aura, but away nights in France and Italy rarely come without a fight.
For a club that sees itself as a European contender, this is exactly the kind of draw that strips away any illusions.
Chelsea reunited with Lyon and a familiar face
Chelsea’s story has its own twist. Beaten finalists in 2020-21, they will again measure themselves against the continent’s elite, with Paris St-Germain, Roma and Austria Wien heading to London.
Those home games at Kingsmeadow should give Sonia Bompastor’s side a platform. Roma are still growing into their European identity, Austria Wien are league-phase debutants, and PSG’s trips to England have often turned into tactical arm-wrestles. Chelsea will expect to impose themselves there.
The emotional spike comes in France. Bompastor will return to her former club Lyon, the record Champions League winners, in what will be a fascinating sub-plot to the group. Chelsea also travel to Swedish side Hacken and to OH Leuven in Belgium, two assignments that demand focus rather than fanfare. Drop points there and the glamour tie in Lyon could quickly lose its shine.
Chelsea have built a squad for nights like these. Now they have to live up to it.
City back in Europe, and straight into Bayern
Manchester City, back in continental competition after missing out last season, found themselves in pot three but avoided the worst-case scenario. That doesn’t mean it will be comfortable.
Andrée Jeglertz’s team will host PSG, Real Madrid and Austria Wien. Those Etihad Campus nights carry opportunity: City know they must bank points at home if they are to navigate a league phase that offers little margin for error.
Away from Manchester, the assignment hardens. City travel to Bayern Munich, Hacken and Inter Milan. Bayern, semi-finalists last season, represent the marquee clash – a meeting of two clubs who believe they should be permanent fixtures in the latter stages. Hacken and Inter may not have Bayern’s pedigree, yet both have shown they can unsettle bigger names on their own turf.
After a year watching from the sidelines, City now have a clear yardstick of where they stand.
Blockbuster ties across the board
The draw in Nyon, Switzerland, placed all 18 clubs into three pots of six, with each side drawn against two opponents – one home, one away – from each pot. Arsenal and Chelsea sat among the top seeds in pot one, with City down in pot three, a reminder of how costly that absence from Europe was.
Some fixtures leap off the page. Barcelona and Bayern Munich will replay their 2025-26 semi-final in Munich, a meeting loaded with recent history. Bayern also head to Paris to face PSG, another clash with the feel of a late-stage tie dropped into the league phase.
The road to Warsaw
UEFA will confirm the full match schedule on Saturday, 5 September, but the calendar is already mapped out. The league phase opens on 22 and 23 September and closes with matchday six on 16 December, a compact sprint that will test squad rotation as much as star quality.
League phase dates:
- 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 cuts to knockout jeopardy. Play-offs arrive in February 2027, quarter-finals in March, semi-finals in early May, and then the final in Warsaw in the last week of May.
Arsenal staring down Barcelona and Lyon. Chelsea circling back to Lyon with Bompastor at the helm. City testing themselves against Bayern and PSG. By the time Warsaw comes into view, how many English clubs will still be standing?
