Champions League last eight
Champions League reaches quarter-final stage
Alex Scott is now best known as a performer in the hit TV series Strictly
Come Dancing and as one of the stars of the first generation of female football pundits on English TV. Prior to that she was a World Cup bronze-medal winning England left-back, earning more than a century of international caps.
But Scott has another unique, claim to fame: she is the only player to score for a British club in a women’s European Final. Moreover, her goal against Swedish side Umea in the 2007 UEFA Women’s Cup Final won the precursor to the Women’s Champions League, capping a seasonal quadruple for an Arsenal team that dominated English women’s football in the opening decade of the century.
No British club has reached the Final since. In the last six years Birmingham
City, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal have reached the semi-finals, but the only British Final representation has been through individuals: Lucy Bronze and Jess Fishlock (both Lyon), and Toni Duggan (Barcelona).
After a five-season absence Arsenal are back in Europe this term and have progressed to the quarter-finals.
Under Australian boss Joe Montemurro they have rediscovered their zest, stylishly winning the WSL title last season. While Scotland’s Kim Little, England’s Jordan Nobbs and Holland’s Danielle Van de Donk comprise a midfield with creativity and bite, newly acquired Australian Caitlin Foord and England’s Beth Mead support the razor-sharp Dutch striker Vivianne Miedema in attack. However, Little and Mead have been out injured and Arsenal lost the League Cup Final 2-1 to Chelsea despite dominating the play.
Although Arsenal remain in the FA Cup their focus is on Europe, and such is the level of investment by the leading
English clubs it seems inevitable that Scott’s goal will soon lose its uniqueness. And Arsenal will obviously want to win their second title before Chelsea or Manchester City can claim a first.
Speaking before the draw for the knockout stage Montemurro said: “As much as we dread meeting the likes of Lyon in this competition, I’m pretty sure that they’ll dread meeting us too because we’re not here to just fill up numbers, we’re here to go all the way.”
Arsenal were subsequently pitched into Lyon’s half of the draw, though they must first play PSG, while defending champions Lyon face Bayern Munich.
The other half of the draw features two-time winners Wolfsburg against Glasgow City, and an all-Spanish tie between last year’s runners-up Barcelona
“As much as we dread meeting the likes of Lyon in this competition, I’m pretty sure that they’ll dread meeting us too because we’re not here to just fill up numbers” Arsenal boss Joe Montemurro
and Atletico Madrid.
History suggests a third Final in five years between Lyon and Wolfsburg, who have not lost a tie in Europe to anyone but Lyon since 2015, but this year could be different. Lyon, winners of the last four Finals, will be without Ada Hegerberg – whose record 53 goals in the competition includes a hat-trick in last year’s Final – after the Norwegian suffered an ACL injury in January.
Lyon still have a lethal attack with Jean-Luc Vasseur able to choose from
Eugenie Le Sommer, Delphine Cascarino and Nikita Parris to lead the line and plenty of goalscoring threats in midfield. Nevertheless, Hegerberg’s absence is a blow that Bayern will hope to exploit.
Wolfsburg, already on course to retain their domestic title, should ease past a Glasgow side who have already exceeded expectations given the club is part-time, and their semi-final ought to be trickier whichever Spanish club emerges.
Moving into March, Barcelona had established a nine-point domestic league lead over an Atletico side now on their third coach of the season. Averaging four goals a game, with Jennifer Hermoso and Asisat Oshoala both in the 20s, Barca do not look like slipping up at home but Europe provides Atletico with a chance to reassert themselves.
This is the penultimate season under the current format and from 2021-22 the last 16 will become a group stage with four quartets.
Entry will be expanded to three clubs from the six countries highest in the UEFA women’s club coefficient. Given the current standings that would be France, Germany, England, Spain, Sweden and Czech Republic.
“I’m thrilled that we are taking this
significant and critical step for the development of women’s football,” says Nadine Kessler, the former German international who is now UEFA’s head of women’s football. “The competition is the most prestigious club competition in female football globally. We want to build on this reputation.” Expect that growing reputation to draw more American players to Europe next season.
Step by step the women’s Champions League is coming to resemble the men’s – for example, already this year’s last eight features only Glasgow from outside the “big five” leagues.
The big question now is how long can Lyon keep the likes of Barca at bay?