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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Suzanne Wrack

Women’s Champions League playoffs to test WSL teams’ depth and new format’s value

Kadhiya De Ceuster heads the ball next to Arsenal's Leah Williamson in Champions League match in December
Leuven's Kadhiya De Ceuster competes for the ball with Arsenal's Leah Williamson in December. The teams meet again on Wednesday. Photograph: Omar Havana/AP

The next phase of the new Women’s Champions League format gets under way on Wednesday and Thursday, when the four playoff first legs take place. Arsenal and Manchester United are among eight teams vying to join Barcelona, Lyon, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, who automatically qualified for the quarter-finals as the top four in the league phase.

As in the men’s competition, a switch from a group stage to the league format has been made. However, with the UWCL group stage having been introduced only for the 2021-22 season, there was scepticism about a change coming so soon, with the group stage viewed as a big step forward and in its relative infancy.

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