Women’s Champions League draw: Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United learn UWCL knockout opponents | OneFootball

Arsenal convincingly saw off OH Leuven to end the league stage of the Women’s Champions League on a positive note.

They will now have to face their most recent opponents in the play-off round, however, which would see them face WSL and London rivals Chelsea in the quarter-finals.

Goals from Olivia Smith and Beth Mead, followed by an own goal from defender Saar Janssen saw the title holders cruise to a win in Belgium to book their place in the play-offs.

The visitors dominated across the pitch, with 25 shots at full-time, 13 of which were on target. Their hosts, in contrast, didn’t get a single shot off, let alone one to trouble Arsenal’s third choice keeper Anneke Borbe.

Speaking after the match, Mead said: “We know Leuven are a really hard team to break down so it’s nice to get goals. We could’ve been a bit more clinical but happy to get the three goals.

“You get a lot of touches on the ball and for me individually I love doing that so it was a nice game to be part of,” she added. “I was happy with my performance, happy to get the goal, played well and got the win. I know we have finished fifth so that has put us in a good position moving forwards.”

Arsenal finished one point behind Bayern Munich in fourth, who came from 2-0 down when they faced the Gunners, snatching a 3-2 win. If Renee Slegers’ side had managed to avoid conceding three second-half goals, they would have avoided two extra games in the knockout play-offs.

Although they narrowly missed out on the last automatic quarter final spot, by finishing fifth Arsenal are the top seed for the knockout games. This means that they will get a home advantage in the second of the two legs, where they have been drawn for a rematch against Leuven. Should Arsenal get the better of the Belgians for a second time, they will meet WSL rivals Chelsea in the quarter finals, who were drawn on the same side of the bracket.

Manchester United, the other team in Arsenal’s seeding pair, who finished sixth thanks to their 1-0 win over Juventus have been drawn against Atletico Madrid. The first legs will be played on the 11th or 12th February and the second legs played a week later on either 18th or 19th February, which will see both Arsenal and United at home.

Chelsea, meanwhile, are straight through to the quarter-finals after coming from behind in Germany to take three points against VfL Wolfsburg.

Sonia Bompastor’s side became the first English team to beat the two-time European champions on German soil as they fought back from 1-0 down to take the win. 

Wolfsburg started strong and deserved their early opener after a poor clearance from Chelsea keeper Livia Peng presented an opening that Alexandra Popp capitalised on with a half-volley into the back of the net. 

The hosts had chances to extend their lead but Chelsea managed to frustrate them, with Lucy Bronze even making a goal line clearance to deny Lineth Beerensteyn. 

The equaliser came just before half time, as Bronze headed in a corner and from there, Chelsea turned the game around. In the second half, they continued applying pressure and found their winner from another header, this time from Sam Kerr. 

The win put them in third place in the league stage table, meaning that they secured automatic qualification for the quarter finals. As Bronze recognised after the match, not having to play an extra two games could have a big impact later on in their season.

Chelsea celebrate their win over Wolfsburg (Photo by Boris Streubel/Getty Images)

“You put the work in now in the first half of the season and I think it saves you a little bit in the second half,” said the defender, who was awarded player of the match. “It was definitely a tough game today, one of our hardest in the Champions League. Coming here to Wolfsburg has never been easy.

“Someone said it is the first time an English team has actually won here. So that’s a good record to have finally cracked. Overall a really tough game. Both teams went really strong until the end and it was quite enjoyable to play in.”

Chelsea were dominant in the league stage, conceding just three goals across their six games. They won’t be back in action in Europe until the 24th or 25th March for the first-leg of the quarter final, with the second leg coming a week later on the 1st or 2nd April. 

They will meet the winner of Arsenal vs OH Leuven.