Spanning 72 teams from 50 European leagues, the deepest Champions League tournament in UEFA history starts tomorrow with clubs from the UK to Georgia eyeing Lisbon's late-May final.
Four teams gained automatic entry to October's 16-team group stage — defending UEFA champs FC Barcelona and runners-up Lyon, plus top German finishers FC Bayern and WSL title-holders Chelsea — with this month's qualifiers determining the remaining 12.
The road to the Champions League group stage
There are two qualifying rounds played concurrently between two sets of teams: The champions path matches up winners from each non-automatically qualified league, while the league path does the same with second- and third-place finishers.
Each path opens with a series of four-team, single-elimination mini-tournaments, in which 59 clubs will enter Wednesday's semifinals with just 15 moving on from Saturday's finals.
Those 15 will join runners-up from top leagues France, Germany, Spain, England, Italy, and Sweden for Round 2 later this month, all vying for a spot in group stage play.
Top European clubs battle for Champions League glory
Set to square off against Denmark's FC Nordsjælland tomorrow, Portuguese powerhouse SL Benfica has made the group stage every year since the 2021-22 season.
WSL favorites Arsenal saw their 16-season UWCL quarterfinal streak snapped by Paris FC last year, so they'll be hungry for redemption when they face Scotland’s Rangers FC tomorrow. If victorious, they'll be set to face the winner of tomorrow's match between 2024 Women's Cup runners-up Atlético de Madrid and Norway's Rosenborg on Saturday.
Also brewing tomorrow is a battle of the underdogs between Finnish side KuPS Kuopio and Scottish third-place finishers Celtic.
How to watch UEFA Champions League matches
Champions League action kicks off tomorrow at 5 AM ET, with live streaming coverage exclusively on DAZN.
On Saturday, the Kansas City Current — who sit second in the NWSL standings — will take on Spanish side Atlético de Madrid in The Women’s Cup (TWC) championship game at CPKC Stadium.
This year marks the first time Kansas City has hosted or taken part in TWC. The series of mini-tournaments pits clubs from different countries up against each other, while $100,000 in prize money and a ticket to next year’s Global Series finals goes to each tournament's champion.
The Women's Cup is all in on international women's football
Founded in an effort to promote and elevate women’s soccer on a global scale, the annual international club soccer competition has expanded from its 2021 inaugural Louisville tournament. After three years of one four-team, single-location contest, 2024 has seen TWC expand into four editions hosted by different cities around the world. All in all, more than 10 different countries have participated in the tournament since its debut, including five NWSL teams.
In addition to the four tournaments, TWC is also introducing the Global Series this year. The winners of each 2024 tournament will now face off in a Final Four-style showdown set for February 2025.
At this point, two of the four Global Series teams have already booked their spots: Gotham FC beat Racing Louisville to claim the title in March’s inaugural TWC Colombia, and Italy’s Juventus defeated Brazil’s Palmeiras in the TWC Louisville final on Tuesday.
"As a coach and as a staff, we talked about how good this opportunity is for the growth of the game," KC head coach Vlatko Andonovski said of the tournament. "I think this is great. I mean, how many times can you bring four groups of people from different continents to one place to do the things they love doing?"
Semifinals saw KC, Madrid through to The Women's Cup final
Wednesday’s opening doubleheader determined Saturday's finalists, with Atlético de Madrid narrowly surviving INAC Kobe Leonessa before the Current took down the Mamelodi Sundowns. Atlético de Madrid eked by Japan's INAC Kobe Leonessa 2-1 on penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 draw.
Afterwards, hosts KC blasted three first-half goals to rocket them over South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns with a 3-0 victory.
Regardless of Saturday's outcome, TWC will cap off what’s shaping up to be a very successful International Summer of Soccer — not to mention a red-hot NWSL season — for the tournament hosts. The championship comes a little over a week after the Current ousted the North Carolina Courage in the NWSL x Liga MX Summer Cup semifinal, behind goals from international stars Temwa Chawinga and Debinha.
How to watch Kansas City vs. Madrid at The Women's Cup final
After a third place match between INAC Kobe Leonessa and the Mamelodi Sundowns at 6 PM ET, Saturday's final will kick off at 9 PM ET. Tickets are available via KC’s website with live coverage streaming on VIZIO WatchFree+.
Atletico Madrid midfielder Virginia Torrecilla played her first game in two years after undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor.
The 27-year-old was a late substitute in Atletico’s 7-0 loss to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday. It was her first time playing in a competitive match since March 2020, when she played for Spain in a 1-0 win over England in the SheBelieves Cup.
Earlier that same month, she played her last game for Atletico Madrid, a 3-0 victory over Real Sociedad.
Two months later, Torrecilla was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Prior to that she had been dealing with headaches and back pain. She underwent a successful operation in Pamplona, Spain. Afterward, she went through a round of chemotherapy treatment before returning to training in March 2021.
“I’m very happy to be here with [my teammates] and to share everything,” she said in a video posted by the club on Twitter. “This is a very important step… A lot of time has passed. It has been about effort, a lot of sacrifice and a lot of training.
“I have to thank the club, they’ve always been with me. This is my reward. Being here in the dressing room and on the pitch, it’s very special.”
Following the game, Torrecilla was celebrated by her fellow Barcelona players.
La Supercopa no ha estat l’única victòria d’avui ❤️
— FC Barcelona Femení (@FCBfemeni) January 23, 2022
🙌 @virginiiiaTr pic.twitter.com/fJf8CJIiWS