Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City all landed glamour ties – and serious examinations – as the Women’s Champions League league-phase draw set up a string of heavyweight clashes across Europe.
In Nyon, 18 clubs were split into three pots of six, with each side drawn against two opponents from each pot, one home and one away. By the end, the path to Warsaw had a distinctly unforgiving look for England’s representatives.
Arsenal walk into a gauntlet of champions
Arsenal’s reward for a place in pot one is as brutal as it is enticing. They will face holders Barcelona and eight-time winners Lyon in a league phase that reads like a roll call of recent European royalty.
Jonas Eidevall’s side will host Lyon, Benfica and HB Koge at Meadow Park, including a reunion with the Danish club they dismantled home and away in 2021-22. Those are the fixtures Arsenal simply must control.
Because the away schedule is ruthless.
Trips to Barcelona, Paris FC and Inter Milan will test both depth and nerve. Barcelona, still the standard-setters in the modern women’s game, are chasing another title. Paris FC and Inter may not carry the same aura, but both have the tools to punish any lapse.
For Arsenal, this is not a gentle glide into Europe. It is a full sprint from matchday one.
Chelsea draw familiar faces and fresh threats
Chelsea, beaten finalists in 2020-21, also emerge with a draw that mixes nostalgia with new storylines.
In London, they will host Paris St‑Germain, Roma and league-phase debutants Austria Wien. Those home nights at Kingsmeadow will need to be sharp, especially against PSG and a Roma side that has grown steadily in stature.
The real emotional weight, though, sits in France.
Manager Sonia Bompastor will return to her former club Lyon when Chelsea travel to face the record Champions League winners. It is a fixture loaded with history, subtext and expectation, pitting a coach who helped shape Lyon’s dominance against the institution she once served.
Chelsea’s away card is completed by journeys to Swedish side Hacken and OH Leuven in Belgium. Neither trip will be straightforward. Hacken, in particular, have turned their home ground into a difficult stop for visiting heavyweights.
For a club that has chased this trophy for years, Chelsea know this phase is not just about survival. It is about sending a message that they belong in the conversation with Lyon, Barcelona and the rest.
Manchester City return with something to prove
Manchester City come back to Europe with a point to make.
After missing out on continental football last season, the Women’s Super League champions dropped into pot three. The draw could have been brutal. It wasn’t kind, but it stopped short of nightmare territory.
At home, Andrée Jeglertz’s side will face PSG, Real Madrid and Austria Wien. Those Etihad Campus nights – or any larger-stage switch – will carry weight. City need to turn them into statements, especially against PSG and Madrid, two clubs with serious European ambitions of their own.
The away schedule bites harder.
City must travel to Bayern Munich, Hacken and Inter Milan. Bayern, semi-finalists last season, will again be one of the most awkward assignments in the competition. A rematch with the German club in Munich echoes their 2025-26 semi-final with Barcelona, another of the draw’s standout ties.
For City, though, the equation is simple: if they want to be seen as more than domestic champions, they have to handle nights like these.
Barcelona, Bayern and PSG headline the wider picture
Beyond the English clubs, the draw threw up several marquee contests.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich will reprise their 2025-26 semi-final in Munich, a meeting that instantly jumps off the page. Bayern will also head to Paris to face PSG, adding another layer of intrigue to a group of fixtures that feels more like a knockout bracket than an early phase.
With all 18 clubs now mapped out, attention turns to the calendar. UEFA will confirm the exact match schedules on Saturday, 5 September, but the framework is already locked in.
The league phase opens on 22 and 23 September and runs through six matchdays:
- Matchday 1: 22/23 September
- Matchday 2: 30 September/1 October
- Matchday 3: 28/29 October
- Matchday 4: 10/11 November
- Matchday 5: 18/19 November
- Matchday 6: 16 December
From there, the stakes climb.
Knockout phase play-offs arrive in February 2027, followed by quarter-finals in March and semi-finals in early May. The final in Warsaw is set for the last week of May, a single night that will crown a champion from this unforgiving field.
Arsenal staring down Barcelona and Lyon. Chelsea reunited with Lyon and wrestling with PSG. City back in the mix against Bayern and Real Madrid.
The names are familiar. The format is new. The question now is who can survive this league phase and still have enough left to finish the job in Warsaw.
