We’re one step closer to determining which teams will make it to the knock out stages
Another week of UEFA Women’s Champions League has passed and no team has yet to qualify for the knock out stages. Some teams are closer than others while in some of the groups, qualification will probably come down to the last matchday.
Group A
Real Madrid 1-1 Chelsea
The tie of this group saw Real Madrid host Chelsea as Las Blancas look to keep themselves in the conversation for finishing first or second in the group and thus qualify for the quarter-finals.
Caroline Weir opened the scoring as she was the fortunate recipient of a bad pass out by Ann-Katrin Berger. All Weir had to do was place her shot into an empty net before Berger and the Chelsea defenders could recover and she did just that. Chelsea got the equaliser in the second half when Guro Reiten’s penalty bounced off the post and off of Misa Rodríguez before bouncing into the net.
Both sides had chances to win the game but ultimately couldn’t find the telling finish to grant them three points. Chelsea stay on top of the group while Real Madrid remain in third with two matchdays left.
Vllaznia 0-4 PSG
KS Vllaznia have not been able to pick up a single point in this group since the start and didn’t have any luck either this time around against Paris Saint-Germain.
Kadidiatou Diani, captaining the French side on this occasion, found the back of the net twice while Ramona Bachmann and Magnaba Folquet (scoring her first Champions League goal) rounded off the scoring.
PSG have two more tough games against Real Madrid and Chelsea left to navigate if they want to qualify for the quarter-finals. They have two points on Real Madrid right now and have three points less than Chelsea. Chelsea may have the step on qualification right now from this group but any losses suffered by any of these three teams could see them slipping out of the chance to play in the knock out stages.
Group B
Wolfsburg 4-2 Roma
AS Roma continue to show good things in their Champions League campaign this season but they came up against a VfL Wolfsburg side that is in good form right now, and that proved to be too much for the Italians.
Ewa Pajor, who when fit is one of the best strikers in the world, was on song against Roma, netting twice in a big win for the German side. Sveindís Jónsdóttir and Lena Lattwein also scored for Wolfsburg while Andressa Alves and Sophie Haug helped half the deficit for Roma.
St. Pölten 1-1 Slavia Praha
In the other Group B game, St. Pölten and Slavia Praha could only see out a one all draw. St. Pölten sit in third and were looking to try and move up the table but Slavia Praha proved to be a stubborn opponent for the hosts to break down.
Kristýna Růžičková opened the scoing in the first half, putting the visitors in front. Mateja Zver was on hand to then score a great goal to equalise for the hosts and the scoreline remained that way until the final whistle.
Wolfsburg and Roma look certain to qualify from this group, with the Germans set to finish first. St. Pölten and Slavia Praha will look to play for pride over the next two matchdays and try to finish this campaign on a high.
Group C
Lyon 4-0 Zürich
Olympique Lyonnais’ resurgence in this group continued as they picked up back-to-back wins against FC Zürich.
The goals started off with Lindsey Horan in the 14th minute, Melvine Malard twice in the second half and then Delphine Cascarino capped off a dominant performance with the goal of the match.
Lyon have now settled themselves nicely in this group and just have to see out two more matchdays against Arsenal and Juventus to qualify for the next stage. A loss to either of those two teams could mean an early exit for the champions, something they will be looking to avoid.
Arsenal 1-0 Juventus
Juventus held Arsenal last time out in the Champions League but this time around, Arsenal stamped their place at the top of the group thanks to a solitary goal from Vivianne Miedema.
Juventus were difficult to break down for Arsenal as they were looking to take something away from their trip to London but could not stop the overall quality from Arsenal from shining through. The side from Turin will now need to win their next two games and/or hope that Lyon and Arsenal falter somewhere along the way to give themselves a chance of making the quarter finals.
Group D
Bayern 3-1 Barcelona
After suffering defeat at the hands of their opponents last time out in the Champions League, Bayern Munich were on a mission to rectify that and came away as 3-1 winners over last season’s finalists, FC Barcelona.
Bayern were in top form against Barcelona and thanks to goals by Klara Bühl, Lina Magull and Lea Schüller, have given themselves every chance in the world to finish at the top of Group D. Barcelona’s only goal of the night game from Geyse but they will not be happy with how easily Bayern seemed to cut through their backline.
Rosengård 1-3 Benfica
Like Group A and C, Group D features three teams that are still have a chance to qualify for the quarter finals of the Champions League. S.L. Benfica is one of them and they helped their cause by picking up a win against FC Rosengård on Matchday 4.
Rosengård initially took the lead thanks to Olivia Schough in the first half but Benfica came roaring back thanks to two goals by Cloé Lacasse and Nycole Raysla. The win sees Benfica sit three points behind the group leaders Barcelona, with all to play for still over the next two group games.
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