The 2025/26 UEFA Women's Champions League action returns on Wednesday, kicking off another week of league-phase play as WSL titans Chelsea search for their first UWCL win of the season.
The Blues settled for a disappointing 1-1 draw with FC Twente last week, despite outshooting the Dutch club 20-9 while holding 65% of possession.
"When I analyze the games, I think we are creating a lot, which is the most important thing," said Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor. "But the most difficult thing in football is to score goals. We need to stay confident and keep trying."
"Sometimes, when you're able to be clinical, you kill the opposition’s hope a bit sooner," Bompastor continued, hoping to supercharge the Blues' offense ahead of their Wednesday afternoon clash with French side Paris FC.
Other UWCL heavy hitters will also feature on Wednesday's pitch, as Barcelona, Wolfsburg and OL Lyonnes all look to continue their winning ways after major victories in last week's opening slate.
The rest of the 18-club league phase will conclude the second matchday on Thursday, when fellow WSL powerhouses Manchester United and defending Champions League winners Arsenal return to the UWCL pitch.
How to watch Chelsea vs. Paris FC in Champions League play
Chelsea will host Paris FC in London for their second league phase match at 3 PM ET on Wednesday.
All 2025/26 Champions League matches will air live on Paramount+.
OL Lyonnes scored some UEFA Champions League revenge on Tuesday, upending reigning UWCL champs Arsenal 2-1 in the powerhouse pair's 2025/26 league phase opener in London.
In a rematch of last season's Champions League semifinal, Haiti international Melchie Dumornay sealed the OL Lyonnes result with a first-half brace for the French titans, quickly countering Arsenal forward Alessia Russo's seventh-minute strike.
"Errors happen from time to time, but if they happen too often, of course, there's something there," noted Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers, referencing the defensive mistakes that led to both OL Lyonnes goals. "Sometimes it's intangible or hard to put your finger on because it's a mixture of things."
"We won't get too high [or] too low in this situation," the Gunners manager continued, adding "the team went through hard times last year as well, and then we ended the season on a high with an amazing achievement in the Champions League."
OL Lyonnes weren't the only opening-day league phase victors, as Juventus took down Benfica 2-1 while 2024/25 runners-up Barcelona demolished Bundesliga side Bayern Munich 7-1 behind a pair of braces from attackers Ewa Pajor and Clàudia Pina.
Unlike previous iterations, the 2025/26 Champions League format does not include first-round rematches, with each team facing six different opponents before advancing to the knockouts.
How to watch 2025/26 Champions League games
UWCL league phase opening matches conclude with five games on Wednesday, with WSL winners Chelsea FC kicking off the action against Dutch side FC Twente at 12:45 PM ET.
All 2025/26 Champions League matches will air live on Paramount+.
The 2025/26 UEFA Women's Champions League begins anew this week, as the European club competition kicks off its first-ever league phase with a blockbuster lineup.
Italian powerhouse Juventus sets the stage against Portugal's Benfica early Tuesday afternoon, before reigning champs Arsenal start their title defense against eight-time winners OL Lyonnes while 2023/24 champs Barcelona face Bundesliga standout Bayern Munich.
"Winning last year hasn't changed that mindset one bit," Arsenal and USWNT defender Emily Fox said this week. "We know that any team on their day is dangerous and, especially with the new format this season, it's not going to be easy."
The debut format Fox refers to replaces the previous group-stage setup, with the new league phase seeing all 18 clubs playing six matches each — three at home and three away — against six different opponents.
While the league phase will eliminate the bottom six teams, the top four finishers will automatically qualify for next spring's quarterfinal round.
As for the 5th- through 12th-place clubs, they must battle in a two-legged knockout playoff round next February in order to punch their quarterfinal tickets.
How to watch the 2025/26 Champions League matches
The league phase of the 2025/26 Champions League campaign opens on Tuesday when Juventus takes on Benfica at 12:45 PM ET.
Arsenal vs. OL Lyonnes and Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich will then snag the spotlight at 3 PM ET.
All UWCL matches will air live on Paramount+.
UEFA locked in the next steps in the path to the 2025/26 Champions League title last Friday, setting the matchups and schedule of the newly expanded UWCL league phase with the official draw.
Nine clubs battled through the competition's initial rounds to join the nine automatic qualifiers in the upcoming 18-team league phase.
This season's new format replaces the traditional group stage, in which teams previously faced three opponents twice.
Instead, while the 2025/26 season will see each qualified club again playing six total matches (three home and three away), they will do so against six different opponents — two from each of the three pods of teams.
The results from the league phase will then determine each team's placement in next year's knockouts.
With additional opponents on each team's docket, the new league phase is providing more top-tier matchups than the previous Champions League format.
Friday's draw set up elite fixtures with reigning champs Arsenal kicking off against French powerhouse OL Lyonnes while fellow heavy-hitter Barcelona faces Bayern Munich.
Later in the league phase, WSL side Manchester United will take on the newly fortified Paris Saint-Germain as well as OL Lyonnes, and Chelsea will meet 2024/25 semifinal foe Barcelona before capping their six matches against two-time UWCL winners Wolfsburg.
The first league phase matches kick off on October 7th before wrapping on December 17th, with the 18 European clubs still standing all eyeing a spot in next May's 2025/26 Champions League final in Oslo, Norway.
The UEFA Women's Champions League (UWCL) made the first- and second-round qualifying draws for the competition's 2025/26 season on Tuesday, with clubs across Europe battling for the nine remaining tickets into the continental tournament's new 18-team league phase.
Along with 2024/25 UWCL champions Arsenal, eight other clubs earned automatic byes through to the league phase, including France's OL Lyonnes, WSL winners Chelsea FC, and last season's Champions League runners-up Barcelona.
Four more teams will join the nine automatic qualifiers via the 2025/26 competition's Champions Path, with the final five clubs coming from the League Path.
Under the tournament's new format, 46 winning teams from non-automatically qualified leagues will battle through the Champions Path, with an additional 22 non-league champions hoping to advance via the League Path.
Notable clubs like England's Manchester United, Sweden's Hammarby, and Italy's Roma will enter through the League Path, setting up tense battles as both parity and rising interest spreads through European women's leagues.
Regardless of Path, all first and second qualifying rounds will function as mini-tournaments with single-leg semifinals, a final, and a third-place match, all hosted by one of the participating clubs.
The winners will then advance to a third-and-final qualifying round, with the eventual nine victors guaranteed a spot in the UWCL League Phase while the runners-up head to the brand-new incoming UEFA Europa Cup competition.
The road to the 2025/26 Champions League trophy officially kicks off with first-round qualifying play on July 30th, with the competition's second round mini-tournaments set to begin on August 27th.
Arsenal are European champions once again, with the Gunners claiming an upset for the ages by silencing back-to-back defending champs Barcelona 1-0 in Saturday's 2024/25 UEFA Champions League final.
Second-half sub Stina Blackstenius notched the match's lone goal in the 74th minute, as Arsenal's stout defense clashed with an uncharacteristically flimsy Barcelona attack to secure the WSL side's first Champions League title in 18 years.
Arsenal remains the only English club to ever hoist the Champions League trophy, with the Gunners joining just Barcelona and the newly rebranded OL Lyonnes as the only teams to win the season-long tournament since 2015.
"My dreams came true," vice captain Leah Williamson — who joined Arsenal at the age of eight — told ESPN during a Monday celebration at the Gunners' Emirates Stadium home.
"I think it sunk in when I turned around and saw on the stadium, the honoring of the previous team that did it [in 2007], and then computing in my head that that's what we did — raising a Champions League trophy on Armoury Square. I'm just so happy."
Barcelona will be back, of course, but a few new faces claiming European football's biggest honor can only strengthen the competition going forward.
The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League final kicks off on Saturday, as underdogs Arsenal and defending champs Barcelona each chase history in a head-to-head clash at Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal.
The Spanish titans aren't just hunting their third European championship in a row — a victory keeps Barcelona's hopes of completing a second straight quadruple alive with their Copa de la Reina finale looming next month.
To do so, however, they'll have to outlast the only English team to ever lift the European trophy, a feat Arsenal accomplished back in 2007.
Making their first Champions League final in 18 years, this season's Gunners are scrappy, boasting an explosive offense that led the league in scoring behind joint-WSL Golden Boot winner Alessia Russo.
The WSL runners-up bounced back from three first-leg deficits against Häcken FC, Real Madrid, and OL Lyonnes en route to the championship match — leading Barcelona star midfielder Aitana Bonmatí to call their appearance "a surprise."
"They absolutely deserve it, because scoring four goals against [eight-time Champions League winners] Lyon in the second leg is not easy at all," the back-to-back Ballon d'Or winner told ESPN. "I congratulate them for that because I think it was a big surprise, but a well-deserved one."
On Saturday, the pair will square off for the first time since 2021, when Barcelona defeated Arsenal twice in Champions League group-stage play.
"It's going to be a tough game — it's a final," said Barcelona defender Caroline Graham Hansen. "You just have to be prepared to leave your heart and soul out there and see who the better team on the day will be."
How to watch the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League final
Arsenal and Barcelona will battle for European glory at 12 PM ET on Saturday, with the Champions League grand finale streaming live on DAZN.
As the 2024/25 UEFA Women's Champions League (UWCL) wraps up its two-leg semifinals on Sunday, the English teams still in the running find themselves on the brink of elimination from Europe's most prestigious club competition.
Facing a 4-1 deficit against reigning champs Barcelona, Chelsea will aim to close the gap — and keep their historic quadruple hopes alive — at home this weekend.
Meanwhile, Arsenal will try to overcome a more manageable 2-1 deficit against eight-time Champions League winners Lyon, traveling to France to keep their UWCL campaign alive.
An English side hasn't won the UWCL since 2007, when Arsenal took home the WSL's lone European championship trophy.
"Huge respect for their history and what they have been doing and producing in the Champions League, in Europe," Arsenal manager Renée Slegers said of Lyon. "I think they're still a very strong side."
"Subconsciously, you always have that thing when you fall short, like last year," said Lyon midfielder and USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps, reflecting back on last season’s title loss to Barcelona. "You lose a game, you lose a tournament – the feeling is there until you're back in the the games that can fix that feeling."
How to watch the 2024/25 Champions League semifinals
Sunday's second leg of the 2024/25 Champions League semifinals kicks off with Chelsea vs. Barcelona at 9 AM ET, before Arsenal faces Lyon at 12 PM ET.
Both matches will air live on DAZN.
USWNT star defender Naomi Girma made her UEFA Women’s Champions League debut this weekend, with Chelsea FC's million-dollar signing taking the pitch during the UK club's tough 4-1 semifinal loss to reigning champion Barcelona on Sunday.
Despite joining the WSL leaders on a world-record $1.1 million transfer fee from the NWSL’s San Diego Wave in January, injury hampered Girma's impact on the Blues, as the Stanford grad appeared in just one regular-season WSL match before exiting with a knock to the calf back in March.
Returning from that injury, Girma subbed in at the 81st minute on a mission to protect Chelsea's relatively tight 2-1 scoreline on Sunday.
Despite her efforts, a quick goal from center back Irene Paredes coupled with a 90th-minute strike from forward Clàudia Pina secured Barcelona the win — plus a significant lead going into this weekend's deciding second-leg semifinal match.
"Barcelona were sharper in tight spaces than we were, which is what they're known for," said Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze after the match.
"The whole rhythm of the game was very different from in England. This was much more of a Spanish tempo. We wanted to play a little more aggressively on the ball, but the staccato nature of the match worked against us."
How to watch the Chelsea at theChampions League semifinals
Girma will have another chance to earn her check this Sunday, when Chelsea hosts Barcelona in the second leg of their 2024/25 UEFA Champions League semifinal round.
The match kicks off at 9 AM ET, with live coverage on DAZN.
The 2024/25 UEFA Women's Champions League semifinals begin this weekend, as four powerhouse clubs familiar with the UWCL spotlight kick off their first matches of the two-leg round.
France's Olympique Lyonnais, Spain's Barcelona FC, and England's Arsenal and Chelsea will battle it out, with just two tickets to the winner-take-all May 24th final in Portugal on the line.
"The coolest thing about big tournaments and high-stake games is you might be expecting something, and you get something completely different," Olympique Lyonnais midfielder Lindsey Heaps told reporters this week. "That's when you see the best teams come out, and they're able to adjust."
Champions League semis pit WSL against European elite
Arguably topping the four-contender list are defending champs Barcelona, with the Spanish side hunting a fourth UWCL title in five years. First, however, they'll have to contend with a stacked Chelsea team hungry to lift a first-ever Champions League trophy — one that could clinch a historic quadruple.
Meanwhile, with both the men's and women's sides reaching this season's Champions League semifinals, Arsenal will square off against eight-time champions Lyon in a quest to claim their first UWCL title in over 18 years.
Both WSL titans are chasing history against their European opponents, with Arsenal still the only UK team to ever win Champions League.
The Gunners will kick off the round by hosting Lyon in their 60,000-capacity Emirates Stadium.
"Playing at the Emirates, and the hunger and the belief that we have as a team at the moment, we're going to go and play our game to the best we can," said Arsenal manager Renée Slegers.
With an estimated 40,000 tickets sold for the pivotal clash, Emirates provides an environment even Arsenal's opponents look forward to competing in.
"You always want these kind of crowds and this kind of atmosphere," Heaps said of the Saturday matchup. "Even if it's against you, it's the best thing in the world."
How to watch the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League semifinals
The first-leg matchups of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League semifinals kicks off on Saturday, when Arsenal hosts Lyon at 7:30 AM ET.
Then on Sunday, Chelsea will travel to Barcelona to take on the reigning champs at 12 PM ET.
Both matches will air live on DAZN.