We’re halfway through the 2022-23 Women’s Champions League group stage, and the stories of the 16 teams continues to develop as every match day passes. New clubs breaking through, perfection eluding those at the top, and history made across the competition – things are heating up as winter sets in!
From the group stage all the way to the final in Eindhoven, Beyond90 will bring you the three biggest stories from each match week as we find out who will eventually lift that famous ribboned cup.
History made in St-Pölten
Modern women’s football in Austria has truly been the realm of one city: the ancient Niederösterreich capital of Sankt-Pölten. Home to SV Neulengbach and SKN St-Pölten, the city has celebrated every Frauenliga championship and Austrian ÖFB Ladies Cup title since 2003, a power balance which moved from the former to the latter in 2013 as St-Pölten moved closer to professionalism and eventually merged with the homonymous men’s club.
Despite that string of successes, St-Pölten had yet to crack the big time, unable to match it with the crème de la crème of European club football. But now, having qualified for their maiden group stage but failing to pick up a point in the first two matches, the Wolves finally notched their first-ever group stage win – a late, late 1-0 victory over Slavia Prague in the Czech capital thanks to a stoppage-time winner by Mária Mikolajová. May it be the first of many.
Chelsea and Barcelona remain perfect
Six teams started the week with perfect records – Chelsea, Wolfsburg, Roma, Arsenal, Bayern and Barcelona – but only two remain, as the English and Spanish league champions maintain their 100% win rate into match day four. Handily beaten in front of 46,697 fans at the Camp Nou, Bayern succumbed to a second-half blitz from brilliant Barcelona, while Roma and Wolfsburg shared the spoils just outside the Eternal City, and Vivienne Miedema’s goal on the hour mark was enough for a point against Juventus in Turin. With Chelsea knocking off Real Madrid 2-0 at Kingsmeadow – their first match without a goal from Sam Kerr or Pernille Harder since mid-October – only two of the competition’s heavy favourites remain flawless half-way through the group stage.
Roma wasn’t built in a day
Since absorbing independent women’s club Res Roma in 2018, the more-well-known Giallorosse have steadily built upon the foundations laid by their forebears, adding bit by bit their own mythos and history to that which came before them. Five seasons later, the newly-minted women’s team – having kept many of Res Roma’s players as well as sharing their traditional Capitoline colours of maroon and gold – are now well-embedded in the upper echelon of Italian women’s football among a group of well-known clubs, namely Inter, Milan, and champions Juventus.
With that success comes opportunity, and the team’s first foray into the Champions League has been arguably better than expected: two wins and a draw against Wolfsburg earning the club seven of nine available points. With their destiny in their own hands and momentum heading into matchday four, these She-Wolves might just be capable of causing a shock or two yet.
Group A
Paris Saint-Germain 5 Vllaznia 0
Chelsea 2 Real Madrid 0
Standings: Chelsea 9 (+11) PSG 4 (+4) Madrid 4 (±0) Vllaznia (-15)
MW4 (9 Dec): Vllaznia vs Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid vs Chelsea
Group B
Slavia Prague 0 St-Pölten 1
Roma 1 Wolfsburg 1
Standings: Wolfsbrrg 7 (+6) Roma 7 (+2) St-Pölten 3 (-4) Slavia 0 (-4)
MW4 (9 Dec): Wolfsburg vs Roma, St-Pölten vs Slavia Prague
Group C
Zürich 0 Olympique Lyonnais 3
Juventus 1 Arsenal 1
Standings: Arsenal 7 (+6) Juventus 5 (+2) Lyon 4 (-1) Zürich 0 (-7)
MW4 (8 Dec): Olympique Lyonnais vs Zürich, Arsenal vs Juventus
Group D
Barcelona 3 Bayern Munich 0
Benfica 1 Rosengård 0
Standings: Barcelona 9 (+15) Bayern 6 (-1) Benfica 3 (-9) Rosengård 0 (-5)
MW4 (8 Dec): Rosengård vs Benfica, Bayern vs Barcelona
Top Scorers
4 – Sam Kerr (Chelsea), Ewa Pajor (Wolfsburg), Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona)
3 – Geyse (Barcelona), Pernille Harder (Chelsea), Valentina Giacinti (Roma), Mariona Caldentey (Barcelona)
