UWCL Briefing: Arsenal and Chelsea bounce back to top groups, Man City limp through

The group stage of this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League culminated dramatically for all three English sides. Despite Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City having already qualified for the quarter-finals, the Women’s Super League clubs were still playing for first place in their groups. Chelsea came from behind to beat Real Madrid 2-1 and join Lyon as the only team with a perfect record in this season’s group stage, while Arsenal came out on top after a 3-2 thriller with Bayern Munich.

Manchester City however were not so successful, with a tough rematch against Barcelona, who won 3-0 to finish top of their group thanks to a superior goal difference in games between the two sides.

Teams from the same countries can be pitted against each other in the quarter-finals, so Chelsea or Arsenal could face Manchester City in the next round. The draw will take place on February 7, with first legs being played on March 18/19 and second legs on March 26/27. First-placed teams in the groups will be drawn at home for the second leg.

Slegers and Russo continue Arsenal revival

Arsenal’s home win over Bayern Munich was not just a reversal of fortunes from the reverse fixture but was also emblematic of their improved form under interim manager Renee Slegers. 

An 85th-minute Mariona Caldentey penalty secured the comeback from 2-1 down to 3-2, a huge improvement on the 5-2 defeat suffered in their previous meeting under Jonas Eidevall. The three points ensure that Arsenal finish top of Group C, which means they will avoid Chelsea and Barcelona in the next round. 

Instrumental to this turnaround was Alessia Russo. Scoring her seventh goal in six games, the forward was a key part of Arsenal’s build up in the first half, dropping deeper and becoming a key point of contact as Arsenal transitioned from defence to attack. 

Russo led the front line by the end of the second half, after Stina Blackstenius’ substitution, but always triggered the Arsenal press that was so important in disrupting Bayern. 

Having not started life at Arsenal quite as fiercely as many fans had hoped or expected since her transfer in 2023, Russo is increasingly filling the expectations that were placed upon her. 

While Arsenal did not manage to nullify the Bayern attack, they won the set-piece battle in a game that did not feature an open-play goal.

The win is Slegers’ 10th in 11 games since filling the void left by Eidevall’s departure — the permanent role going to anyone else is becoming increasingly unlikely.

Winter break coming at a good time for City

It was always going to be a tough ask for Manchester City’s injury-decimated side to repeat their impressive performance against Barcelona from the opening matchday. There were six changes between October’s starting XI and the one in Barcelona this week, with key players Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood all missing. 

City were under pressure from the start, with goalkeeper Khiara Keating keeping them in the match for most of the first half. Keating appears to have won back her starting spot from Ayaka Yamashita and the 20-year-old’s shot-stopping prowess was clear to see. It would have taken a miracle to hold on, though, and Claudia Pina broke City’s resolve in the 44th minute, before second-half goals from Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas ensured Barcelona would finish top of Group D.

The biggest disappointment for City will be how much of the pressure they faced was self-inflicted. Without Shaw, City do not have a physical presence to hold up the ball. Instead, manager Gareth Taylor opted to use midfielder Jess Park as his striker, with forward Mary Fowler out wide. City were repeatedly playing out from the back — and straight into trouble.

Physically spent as a squad, the counter-press that was so effective in the first match against Barcelona was nowhere to be seen. Only when the game was long beyond them did they show any real attempt to get back into it.

City’s aim in this group would always have been to qualify for the next round, given their failure to even make it this far in the competition in recent years. Few would have expected them to have even been in a position to top the group when the original draw was made. The winter break has come at a crucial time, and the hope will be they look far closer to their October selves by the time March comes around.

Macario on the spot to save Chelsea more Madrid woe

Real Madrid’s Estadio Alfredo di Stefano had not been an easy place to go for Chelsea, who had failed to win on their two previous visits. When Hannah Hampton’s save from Caroline Weir’s shot looped over her head and into the back of the net, it looked like their bad relationship with the stadium was set to continue.

Sonia Bompastor was again forced to make a half-time substitution as her Chelsea side laboured to create anything. Madrid defended their 1-0 lead, knowing that if they held on it would be enough for them to top Group B. That would have been a considerable achievement given last season’s bottom-placed finish in a group that contained Chelsea, Hacken and Paris FC.

The introduction of Catarina Macario, who also played under Bompastor at Lyon, proved crucial. She had the ball in the back of the net within a minute of coming on, but it was correctly flagged offside, before missing a one-v-one opportunity. Macario made no mistake from the penalty spot, however, when Madrid full-back Olga Carmona brought her down. Five minutes later, in the 56th minute, she scored another penalty after Carmona was adjudged to have handled the ball. 

“Catarina Macario changed the game and showed that she is a world-class player,” said Bompastor in her post-match press conference. “I’m really pleased with her performance. I know Catarina really well and I know her potential. I know what she can bring to the team.”

”She’s still in a process where she’s building her fitness. We’re working with the performance staff to make sure she can play more minutes, and show her best level.

”For the 45 minutes she played tonight, this is what we expect from her, but we also need to help her get back to her best fitness.”

Much like City, Chelsea have looked like a team running on fumes towards the end of December, with the winter break being much welcomed by Bompastor. As Macario and other key players continue to work on their fitness, the club will also be hoping that longer-term absentees, including Lauren James and Sam Kerr, can successfully return in 2025.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, UK Women's Football

2024 The Athletic Media Company