UEFA Women's Champions League draw: Barcelona to face Man City; Chelsea, Real Madrid drawn together, Arsenal meet Bayern
Published 27/09/2024 at 13:21 GMT+1
The group stages are set for the 2024/25 UEFA Women's Champions League. Ahead of its transition to a revised format in 2025/26, the group stages are to take place for the final time in the competition, and they are set to deliver big drama as holders Barcelona face Manchester City in Group D, as Chelsea and Real Madrid meet in Group B. Elsewhere, Arsenal will face Bayern Munich in Group C.
'Response was great' - Postecoglou hails Spurs for winning Europa League opener after early red
Video credit: SNTV
UEFA Women's Champions League holders Barcelona will meet Manchester City in Group D, as the group stage draw for the 2024/25 tournament was confirmed on Friday.
Barca claimed the scalps of Women's Super League champions Chelsea in the semi-final of last year's Champions League, before toppling Lyon 2-0 in the final to claim the European title.
And their defence gets underway in a group with Gareth Taylor's outfit - the City boss looking to add the Champions League to his resume as the club also searches for its first WSL title since 2016.
Elsewhere, Sonia Bompastor will face a trip to Real Madrid in Group B in her maiden UWCL campaign as Chelsea boss.
Emma Hayes departed the club last season to take over the United States Women's National Team, with the Champions League title the only honour to elude her during a trophy-laiden stint as manager.
- 'We're going to need him,' says Postecoglou on in-form Johnson
- Solanke 'can still get fitter' despite goal and assist in 10-man Spurs win
- How to watch Newcastle v Manchester City on TNT Sports and discovery+
Bompastor will be looking to give Chelsea a European boost with the 2022 UWCL title already on her impressive CV at Lyon - she also won two Champions League titles as a player.
Also in Group B, Celtic will take to the Champions League main draw for the first time - as an impressive qualifying campaign saw them become the first Scottish team to qualify for the group stages of the women's tournament.
In a tough-looking Group C, Jonas Eidevall's Arsenal return to UWCL action after last season's absence and will face both Bayern Munich and Juventus.
Arsenal knocked Bayern out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage in 2022/23, and will be looking for European glory after crashing out of the qualifiers last season.
Elsewhere, last season's finalists Lyon - who will be contending for the first time since the departure of former boss Bompastor - have been drawn to face VfL Wolfsburg, as well as debutants Galatasaray, who became the first Turkish club to qualify for the UWCL this season.
The group stage is set to take place from October 8-9 until December 17-18 - with two matches in each round.
FULL UWCL DRAW
Group A
Lyon
VfL Wolfsburg
AS Roma
Galatasaray
Group B
Chelsea
Real Madrid
FC Twente
Celtic
Group C
Bayern Munich
Arsenal
Juventus
Valerenga
Group D
Barcelona
Manchester City
SKN St. Polten
Hammarby IF
TNT Sports will show over 500 matches from the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League across the 2024-25 season. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination.
Thoughts?
Advertisement
Advertisement