Arsenal and Chelsea face tough starts to Champions League campaign – Women’s Champions League draw | OneFootball

Arsenal Women will start their Champions League defence with tough fixtures, as Chelsea have been handed chance for revenge against Barcelona in the league phase draw.

This season’s Women’s Champions League will be the first in UEFA’s new format for the competition. Like in the men’s tournament, the traditional group stage has now been abandoned in favour of a new league phase.

The league phase will consist of 18 teams, with each side playing six unique fixtures. The top four sides at the end of the league phase will advance straight to the quarter-finals. Teams that finish in the bottom six (13th-18th) will be eliminated from the competition. The remaining eight sides will each play a two-legged knockout tie, with the winners going through to the last eight.

It is the same new format that UEFA have been rolling out across all of their club competitions, The aim is to create more entertaining and bigger clashes in the early stages of their tournaments.

The English representatives in the Women’s Champions League this season are Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Arsenal are the reigning champions of the competition after their unexpected triumph last season. Renee Slegers’ side will welcome their quarter-final and semi-final opponents from last season to the Emirates – Real Madrid and eight-time-winners Lyon. The Gunners will also face a tricky away trip to Bayern Munich.

Chelsea secured their sixth consecutive WSL title last season but the Champions League is the prize that still eludes them. Sonia Bompastor’s side suffered a humiliating 8-2 aggregate loss to Barcelona in last season’s semi-finals. The Blues have been handed the chance for revenge against the Catalan side, who will visit them in London.

After finishing third in the WSL, United successfully progressed through three qualifying rounds to reach the proper competition. Marc Skinner’s side have been rewarded with a host of testing fixtures, including Lyon, Wolfsburg and PSG.

The English sides’ fixtures in full:

Arsenal

Lyon (home)

Bayern Munich (away)

Real Madrid (home)

Benfica (away)

FC Twente (home)

OH Leuven (away)

Chelsea

Barcelona (home)

Wolfsburg (away)

Roma (home)

St Polten (away)

FC Paris (home)

FC Twente (away)

Manchester United

Lyon (home)

Wolfsburg (away)

PSG (home)

Juventus (away)

Valarenga (home)

Atletico Madrid (away)