There are four quarterfinal spots available, and there will be no shortage of teams vying for them.
The Women’s Champions League heads into a tight final round on Wednesday with Chelsea, Juventus, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich the strongest contenders to advance to the quarter-finals behind leaders Barcelona and OL Lyon.
All nine games will kick off at the same time on a potentially fateful night as fans and coaches watch the scores across Europe.
Quarterfinals
The first season, with an 18-team league phase replacing the old group system, did not pose much risk to the 12 teams qualifying for the knockout stages. Only a shock win for Bayern by Norway’s Valerenga could change the composition of the top 12.
The top four that matter will advance directly to the quarter-finals, while those in fifth through 12th will have to survive an additional playoff round.
With 13 points from five games, Barcelona and OL Lyon are not mathematically fully guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals, but they will advance to the last eight provided that losses to Paris FC and Atlético Madrid respectively do not result in at least three other results against them.
This leaves two more spots open for the quarterfinals. Third-placed Chelsea are in the best position to pick up one point with 11 points, but will have a difficult game against two-time Champions League winners Wolfsburg.
Juventus, Madrid and Bayern are next on 10 points, with three more teams on nine points, including Manchester United, who visit Juventus in one of the most even games on Wednesday.
arsenal of adversity
Arsenal are the defending Champions League winners, but it didn’t always look that way. Renee Sleggers’ team, currently in eighth place, will head to the playoff round unless a miracle happens.
Arsenal will be the favorites for OH Leuven, but unless their rivals fail, the only reward for defeating the Belgian team is likely to be a better seeding in the play-off round.
One possible outcome would be to face Leuven again in the round of 16, rather than against more formidable opponents such as United or Paris FC.
Arsenal striker Alessia Russo is among seven players at the top of the top scorer list with four goals each, along with Barcelona’s Eva Pahor and Lyon’s Melky Dumornay, and the match against Leuven could give the England striker a chance to advance.
PSG’s crushing defeat
Paris Saint-Germain, two-time Champions League runners-up and seven-time semi-finalists, have not had a stellar year.
PSG, who have one point from five games so far, are unable to advance as they are in 16th place out of 18 teams. PSG are not only firmly in the shadow of OL Lyon. They’re not even the best team in the French capital. Paris FC will advance to the Round of 16 in 10th place.
PSG could at least have a chance of avoiding a winless season if they can beat Benfica, who are also eliminated in 15th place.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
