The final group stage games of the Women’s Champions League will be played at the same time on Wednesday night with all three English teams aiming to qualify for the knockout stage.
The group stages of the Women’s Champions League concludes in what could be a dramatic evening on Wednesday night as clubs look to seal their place in the knockout stage. As it stands, there are just two points separating Juventus in the last automatic qualifying spot and Paris FC in 10th place.
Every game will kick off at the same time, and will be shown live on Disney+. The top four teams automatically qualify for the knockout stages with the teams fifth to 12th place entering a play-off match.
Defending champions Arsenal sit in eighth position, but are just one point behind the automatic qualifying spot. The problem for the Gunners is the tightness of the league, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg are currently ahead of them in the queue if any of the top four slip up.
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Arsenal have won three and lost two of their league matches so far. Last week saw them record a 1-0 win over FC Twente. They take on Belgian side OH Leuven in their final group game, and former Arsenal forward Lianne Sanderson believes that the side are beating expectations.
Sanderson exclusively told the Mirror: “I think just because Arsenal won the Champions League, people are thinking, ‘Oh, they’re going to win it again this year’. I won it once in my career. We hadn’t won it for like 20 years since then. It’s a difficult competition to win, just ask Chelsea, you know, it’s a difficult competition.
“I do think Arsenal will have an opportunity, obviously they’re not going to finish in the top four for me, goes without saying, but to have to play a play-off game is still better than where we’d expect them to be at this moment in time.”
Before Arsenal’s unexpected victory in the competition last season, it was Chelsea who had come the closest. While seeing the Arsenal success last season may have stung, it’s something that the Blues can also use. Sonia Bompastor’s side sit in the third automatic qualifying place ahead of their final group match against Wolfsburg, who are just two points behind them.
“I think if I was playing for Chelsea, I wouldn’t be happy [about Arsenal winning] because there’s been so much that has been emphasised on the fact that, you know, they cannot get over the line,” Sanderson said. “Therefore, it’s like, okay, Arsenal got it over the line in a team and a squad that was nowhere near Chelsea’s level, to a certain degree.
“So, for me, I think if I was a Chelsea player, I’d use that as an incentive. I think Chelsea did really well, with regards to the game against Barcelona (a 1-1 draw), they can take a lot of confidence from that because I thought they should have won that game, and Barcelona are my favourite team to watch.
“So, I think when you’re looking at it, this year has been really competitive, highly competitive, and that’s what we’ve asked for from the women’s game for a number of years now.”
It’s that competitiveness that will cause a spectacle for the final game of the group stage. “It’s the first time ever that we’ve ever had all of the games wrapping up on the same day,” Sanderson added.
“So, there’s a lot, like Man United (9th place, 9 points) have got to go to Juventus (4th place, 10 points). So, there’s a lot to play for for these last fixtures, for all of the teams that are involved. There’s some like Leuven, St Polten, teams, they’ve given it a good run, haven’t they?
“They’ve given it a good run, they’ve done their best, but it’s difficult to compete against the teams that have more money and better players. But I do think the competitiveness, the competitiveness has always been there in Europe.”
Sanderson will be part of the team bringing the final games on Disney+. She has outlined how the coverage of the game has changed in just the few years since she retired, with fans given more chances to watch than ever before.
“I keep saying it, but like when I was playing, at times there was only one game a year – I only retired seven years ago – that was on TV, which was the FA Cup final,” she said. “So, the fact that every game is available and it’s on demand as well, like I can come back from doing a game and watch the game back straight away, I can watch the highlights back straight away, which in the women’s game I think has been lacking over the years.
“Even now I try to find games and, some of them are on TV, some are not, and I want to be able to watch the Championship games as well. So, you know, I think it’s got better, but I think for Disney, like the fact that all the games are available is amazing.”
Watch UEFA Women’s Champions League Matchday 6 live on Disney+ this 17 December, with expert analysis as all nine games kick off together.
