With potential paths to the 2022-23 UEFA Women’s Champions League now formalised, Europe’s best clubs know exactly which opponents stand between them and the continent’s premier club competition.
Split into four sections, the 71 teams vying for silverware will come together as a final cohort of 16 in mid-October before fighting it out to see who becomes the next European champion in 2023.
Beyond90 takes a look at the ins and outs of this year’s Champions League, as well as the Australian and New Zealander players involved – ahead of the first round of qualifying.
Round 1
The first round of qualifying will see 58 clubs from 49 member associations take part in a series of one-off knockout matches to determine which will reach the next stage of qualifying. There are two sections of qualification – the Champions Path and League Path – with 15 teams advancing to the next stage.
Glasgow City (Scotland)
Runners-up in the Scottish Women’s Premier League for the first time since 2007, the Glaswegian club will be looking to secure major European competition for the 11th consecutive season. The highest-profile and most-successful independent women’s club in Europe, Cairns-born Aoife Colvill’s Glasgow City was drawn in the first semi-final of Group 1 against French club Paris FC, who earned qualification in third place thanks to rivals Lyon winning last year’s UWCL title.
Servette (Switzerland)
Looking to secure its second-ever Champions League group stage appearance, Servette Chênois will face a much sterner task than last season’s first qualifying round, which saw them edge out Northern Irish champions Glentoran and Finnish league leaders Åland United. Drawn to face Italian Serie A runners-up Roma in the semi-final of Group 1, Tessa Tamplin and Servette may well face the club it eliminated to reach last year’s group stage in the group final should Glasgow City prevail.
Brieðablik (Iceland)
By far Iceland’s most successful women’s club, 18-time league champion Breiðablik will be looking to once again make its mark on the continent this season. Having qualified for the quarter finals in 2007, and to date Iceland’s only group stage representative in the UWCL, Melina Ayres and company will travel to Norway to face Rosenborg before a playoff against Belarusian side Minsk or Czech club Slovácko.
Fortuna Hjørring (Denmark)
Home to a galaxy of young Australian stars – Angie Beard, Clare Wheeler and Indiah-Paige Riley – the 2003 UEFA Women’s Cup runners-up missed out on European football last year for the first time since 2009, finishing third in the Danish Elitedivisionen. With HB Køge once again claiming the title, Fortuna will face four-time European champions Eintracht Frankfurt in the group semi-final, with the winner of Ajax vs Kristianstads DFF waiting in the final.
Manchester City (England)
One of the richest clubs in world football, most fans were shocked to see Manchester City fall at the final hurdle of qualification to Real Madrid in the 2021-22 tournament. Having earned a draw in Madrid, City were odds-on to qualify for the group stage, only for Claudia Zornoza to steal a crucial away goal and send Los Merengues through to the final 16. This time though, Matildas trio Mary Fowler, Hayley Raso and Alanna Kennedy will face newly-formed Kazakh club Tomiris-Turan in the group semi-final before a potential rematch against Madrid in the group final.
Rangers (Scotland)
Having lifted its first-ever Scottish league trophy in 2022, Glasgow’s second-newest SWPL team (formed before only Partick Thistle) will this year attempt to qualify for its maiden European competition with a first-leg play-off against Hungarian giants Ferencváros in Greece. Success in that tie will see the Blue Belles take on the winner of Greek champions PAOK and Welsh club Swansea City, with New Zealand goalkeeper Victoria Esson looking to stake her claim as one of the few Kiwis in continental football.
Brann (Norway)
Another side fresh from celebrating its first title, the Norwegian side formerly known as Sandviken have merged with three-time men’s league winners Brann, sharing the club’s facilities, training venue, and 17,000-seat home stadium Brann Stadion. With new signing Tameka Yallop available for the playoffs, the side will also be aiming for its first-ever UWCL appearance proper, taking on Turkish champions AGL Spor in the first round of their bracket.
SK Brann players travelling to Budapest for their first-round UWCL qualification match. Credit: IG/brannkvinner
Spartak Subotica (Serbia)
Winners of 12 consecutive Serbian Women’s Super League titles – as well as the first-ever Yugoslavian Women’s League in 1975 – Subotica have quite fortuitously been handed a bye in the first round of the Champions Path playoffs. With home ground advantage and fresh legs on their side, Blacktown-born Serbian international Vesna Milivojević and the Blue Doves will face the winner of Brann and ALG Spor for a place in the second round.
League Path:
Paris (FRA) vs Servette (SUI) / Glasgow City (SCO) vs Roma (ITA)
Minsk (BLR) vs Slovácko (CZE) / Breiðablik (ISL) vs Rosenborg (NOR)
Ajax (NED) vs Kristianstads DFF (SWE) / Fortuna Hjørring (DEN) vs Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)
Manchester City (ENG) vs Tomiris-Turan (KAZ) / Real Madrid (ESP) vs Sturm Graz (AUT)
Champions Path:
Pomurje (SVN) vs Shelbourne (IRL) / Valur (ISL) vs Hayasa (ARM)
Greece PAOK (GRE) vs Swansea City (WAL) / Ferencváros (HUN) vs Rangers (SCO)
BIIK Kazygurt (KAZ) vs Split (CRO) / Zhytlobud-2 Kharkiv (UKR) vs Lanchkhuti (GEO)
FC Zürich (SUI) vs KÍ (FRO) / Apollon Limassol (CYP) vs Rīgas FS (LVA)
Anderlecht (BEL) vs UKS SMS Łódź (POL) / Gintra (LTU) vs KuPS (FIN)
Juventus (ITA) vs Union FC (LUX) / Flora (EST) vs Kiryat Gat (ISR)
U Olimpia Cluj (ROU) vs Glentoran (NIR) / SFK 2000 (BIH) vs Birkirkara (MLT)
Twente (NED) vs Agarista-ȘS Anenii Noi (MDA) / Benfica (POR) vs EP-COM Hajvalia (KOS)
Dinamo-BGU Minsk (BLR) vs Lokomotiv Stara Zagora (BUL) / Sankt-Pölten (AUT) vs Ljuboten (MKD)
Breznica (MNE) vs Spartak Myjava (SVK) / Vllaznia (ALB)
Brann (NOR) vs ALG Spor (TUR) / Spartak Subotica (SRB)
Round 2
The second round of qualification will again feature two streams of ties as in Round 1, this time including nine automatically-qualified teams from the seven best leagues in Europe. Along with the 15 bracket winners from the first round, the 24 teams will be drawn into 12 two-legged ties – seven in the Champions Path, five in the League Path – with the winners qualifying for the final places in the Group Stage.
Rosengård (Sweden)
12 times the champions of Sweden, Rosengård was incredibly knocked out of last season’s tournament by first-time participants 1899 Hoffenheim in the second round of qualification, leaving the club without European football for the first time since 2011. Led by Swedish captain Caroline Seger, Matildas goalkeeper Teagan Micah and also potentially Charli Grant (who is currently on loan at Vittsjö GIK), the club will be hoping to bring European football back to Malmö once again.
HB Køge (Denmark)
After receiving a baptism of fire in its first UWCL endeavour last season, during which the Danish champions failed to score in its three away games, Køge is back in the saddle for another tilt at the group stage in 2022/23. Having secured the services of Auckland-born midfielder Daisy Cleverley after her graduation from Georgetown University, as well as former Perth Glory favourite Mie Leth Jans, Køge’s young team will be hoping to repeat last season’s performance and make it into the main event.
Arsenal (England)
Winners of the 2007 UEFA Women’s Cup and still the only British team to lift the trophy, Arsenal scraped through last season’s group stage on goal difference behind eventual finalists Barcelona before being unceremoniously dumped out in the quarter-finals by German champions Wolfsburg. Having strengthened the squad in the past 12 months with the signings of Stina Blackstenius, Laura Wienroither and Rafaelle, Matildas stalwarts Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley will be hoping to emulate club legend Alex Scott and bring the trophy back to North London once more.
Paris St-Germain (France)
Always the bridesmaid, only ever once the bride; despite being by far the richest club in France, PSG have finished Division 1 runners-up no fewer than nine times in the past 13 years, with its only league triumph coming by a single point over Lyon in 2020-21. Semi-finalists in the past three UWCL editions, as well as beaten finalists in 2015 and 2017, newly-signed Matildas goalkeeper Lydia Williams and her Parisienne teammates will have their aim set on taking that final step into greatness this season.
Automatically qualified teams:
Champions Path: Slavia Prague (CZE), Rosengård (SWE), HB Køge (DEN)
League Path: Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Bayern Munich (GER), Arsenal (ENG), Sparta Prague (CZE), BK Häcken (SWE), Real Sociedad (ESP)
Group Stage
With the seven Champions Path and five League Path playoff winners confirmed, all eyes will turn to Nyon, Switzerland for the UWCL Group Stage draw on October 3.
French super-club Olympique Lyonnais (Ellie Carpenter), English WSL winners Chelsea (Sam Kerr), 2013 & 2014 UWCL champions Wolfsburg, and 2021 UWCL winners Barcelona will form Pot 1 of the draw, separating them until the quarter-finals.
The 12 playoff-winning teams will be placed into Pots 2-4 based on their UEFA coefficient and drawn into the remaining spots across the four groups. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout phase, during which clubs will be drawn at random into two-legged ties, culminating in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final at PSV-Stadion in Eindhoven in June 2023.
Beyond90 will have a full UWCL Group Stage preview after the draw in October 2022, where we’ll look at every matchup and key players across the 16 teams.
