Champions League
Women’s football makes a comeback with the Champions League
When the draw was made for the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-finals last November, Hedvig Lindahl and Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir were among those Wolfsburg players plotting the path to a third triumph. Now, as the competition resumes following a coronavirus-enforced suspension, they are blocking the German champions’ way.
Lindahl had kept a clean sheet and Gunnarsdottir missed a penalty as Wolfsburg won1-0 in the Netherlands to complete a 7-0 aggregate victory over Twente to reach the last eight. Now, though, the Sweden goalkeeper plays for Atletico Madrid, Wolfsburg’s possible semi-final opponents, and Iceland’s Gunnarsdottir is with defending champions, and likely finalists, Lyon. Should these match-ups come to pass, they could be forgiven for feeling a little strange.
In ordinary circumstances this could not happen, transferred players would be cup-tied, but we live in extraordinary times. As with the men, the remaining rounds of the Women’s Champions League have been condensed, in their case to a ten-day stretch in the Basque cities of Bilbao and San Sebastian, home of Real Sociedad, in late August.
Contracts in the women’s game tend to be shorter than the men’s, and movement greater, so there were added complications in pushing the competition two months beyond June 30, the usual contract expiration date. For example, during the hiatus both of the goalkeepers that Atletico began the competition with left the club: Sari van Veenendaal joined PSV, and Dolores Gallardo moved to Lyon. UEFA thus allowed clubs to include six new players, three of whom could have previously appeared for other quarter-finalists.
So Noelle Maritz, who also began the competition with Wolfsburg, could find herself facing them for Arsenal. Wolfsburg, meanwhile, could field Katarzyna Kiedrzynek, who started the competition with Paris Saint-Germain, or Pauline Bremer, scorer of Manchester City’s late consolation as they were knocked out in the last round by Atletico.
One part of the world likely to take greater interest in the competition is
As with the men, the remaining rounds of the Women’s Champions League have been condensed, in their case to a ten-day stretch in Bilbao and San Sebastian
Australia. Ahead of the last eight, Arsenal have signed Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley and Lydia Williams, while another Matilda, Ellie Carpenter, has gone to Lyon.
Besides Carpenter and Gunnarsdottir, the French champions have also brought in Sakina Karchaoui, from Montpellier. More importantly, the holders have also held on to star players Dzsenifer Marozsan and Sarah Bouhaddi, who had been bound for Utah Royals before coronavirus scuppered the move, and secured contract extensions for Manchester City-bound full-backs Lucy Bronze and Alex Greenwood. Although Ada Hegerberg and Griedge Mbock Bathy are unlikely to have recovered from injuries, Lyon look strong contenders for a fifth successive title.
However, they last played competitively in February and will inevitably be rusty. Bayern Munich, strengthened by the arrival of Lea Schuller (from Essen) and Viviane Asseyi (Bordeaux), but unfortunately not the injured Klara Buhl (Freiburg) get first crack at them. Then it will be the winner of the quarter-final between Lyon’s domestic rivals, Paris Saint-Germain, and Arsenal. The latter will be wary of Ramona Bachmann, newly signed from Chelsea, for whom she scored twice against Arsenal at Wembley in the 2018 Women’s FA Cup Final.
The other half of the draw is headed by Wolfsburg, seeking a fifth final in eight years. They have also added Lena Oberdorf, the teenage tyro, from Essen and should have far too much for Glasgow City. The Scots have made a statement signing in South African captain Janine van Wyk but are largely part-time and have only played one competitive match since November, a 2-1 defeat to Celtic in February in the opening game of the swiftly curtailed Scottish league campaign. Before millionaire philanthropist James Anderson stepped in, they were struggling to even afford to travel to Spain to compete. The last independent club in the competition, even reaching this stage is a fine achievement.
The first quarter-final to be staged is an all-Spanish affair, domestic champions
Barcelona against the team they usurped, Atletico Madrid. Bilbao’s San Mames stadium will host the tie. The winners will meet Wolfsburg or Glasgow in Real Sociedad’s Anoeta. San Sebastian will also host the final. It is unlikely fans will be allowed into matches.
The climax is expected to be Lyon v Wolfsburg for the third time in five years, but with the teams so short of match practice, and with such changes in personnel, surprises are likely. In football, as elsewhere, there are currently few certainties. The main aim is simply to complete the competition.