The quarterfinals of the women’s Champions League start with Madrid-Barcelona and a London derby

MADRID (AP) — The quarterfinals of the Women’s Champions League start this week with the Spanish rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona and the London duel between the present monarchs Arsenal and Chelsea.

The high eight may even embrace the newest chapter in the historic rivalry between Lyon and Wolfsburg, two of the powerhouses of women’s soccer. In their debut in the quarterfinals, Manchester United will face Bayern Munich.

Barcelona, ​​Lyon, Chelsea and Bayern Munich earned an automated place in the quarterfinals by ending in the high 4 in the new league part. The different 4 groups drew tons for the playoffs, by which the groups that completed from fifth to twelfth place participated.

The winner between Madrid and Barcelona will face Manchester United or Bayern Munich, whereas the different semi-final may have Arsenal or Chelsea towards Wolfsburg or Lyon.

The first legs of the semifinals will probably be in April and the second legs in May. The last will probably be in Oslo on May 23.

Barça Femení, three-time champions and on the hunt to set a document with a sixth consecutive last, will face Madrid on Wednesday in a basic that has traditionally leaned in favor of the Catalans in the girls.

Leaders of the league part, the Catalan staff seeks to succeed in the semifinals of the Champions League for the eighth consecutive time. Madrid has by no means reached the semi-final spherical of the European membership competitors.

“I’ve so many good recollections of the Women’s Champions League and these recollections provide you with a lot of motivation to attempt to make it occur once more, as a result of it is like an habit,” said Barcelona forward Caroline Graham Hansen.

The Spanish rivals met in the 2021-22 quarterfinals, with Barcelona winning 8-3 on aggregate. The second leg was played in front of what was then a world record attendance of 91,553 at Barcelona’s Camp Nou. The return against Madrid this season will be the first women’s match in the newly remodeled stadium.

Madrid beat Barcelona for the first time in 2025. This year they lost 4-0 to Barcelona in the Spanish league, 2-0 in the Spanish Super Cup and 4-0 in the Copa de la Reina. They are scheduled to meet again in the Spanish league in Madrid this weekend in the middle of the Champions League quarterfinal tie.

Madrid, which is playing its fifth European campaign, was seventh in the league phase.

The Arsenal-Chelsea duel on Tuesday at Arsenal Stadium will mark the first time in the history of the Women’s Champions League that two teams from the same city have faced each other.

The defending champions are in the top eight for the 17th time, a record shared with Lyon, while Chelsea – seeking their first trophy in the competition – appear in the quarter-finals for the seventh time.

Chelsea finished in third place in the league phase, tied with Barcelona as the team with the most goals scored (20) and also with the fewest goals conceded (3).

Arsenal were fifth in the league stage and cruised through the playoffs with a comfortable 7-1 aggregate victory over Leuven.

Wolfsburg and Lyon will write the latest chapter in their rivalry starting Tuesday at the Wolfsburg Arena.

The first leg will be the 12th meeting between the two in the Women’s Champions League, equaling the most repeated meeting together with Lyon/Paris Saint-Germain. The record will be broken alone in the second leg in France.

Wolfsburg won the first meeting — the 2013 final in London — but since then Lyon has had the better of the rivalry. They won three finals against the German club: 2016, 2018 and 2020.

They also won the quarterfinals of the 2016-17 and 2018-19 seasons, and achieved two victories in the group stage last season. Lyon also won their matchup in the league stage this season.

Lyon, with eight titles, was in second place in the league phase, while Wolfsburg, two-time champions, was ninth and beat Juventus in the playoffs.

Manchester United’s debut in the quarterfinals will be on Wednesday at home against Bayern Munich, who are seeking to reach their third semifinal.

The clubs meet for the first time in a UEFA women’s club competition.

Lea Schüller joined United in January after scoring more than 100 goals in five and a half years with Bayern. United’s Julia Zigiotti Olme and Fridolina Rolfö are also former Bayern players.

Bayern were fourth in the league stage, while United finished sixth.

Bayern’s only defeat in the league phase was a 7-1 rout against Barcelona on matchday one.

AP Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes