With the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League set to start subsequent week, the highest groups left within the competitors are able to combat for probably the most prestigious trophy within the recreation.
Ranking favourites to go all the way in which in any competitors might be troublesome, nevertheless it’s a very robust job with the calibre of aspect left within the 2022/23 version.
Olympique Lyonnais are the defending champions, are seeing off Barcelona within the 2022 remaining, and each fancy their probabilities of going all the way in which as soon as extra. Here’s 90min’s favourites to scoop up the trophy when it is all mentioned and executed.
It’s harsh to name AS Roma the serial underdogs, however it will be an enormous shock in the event that they received the Champions League on condition that it is their debut season within the competitors.
Historically, Italian groups haven’t executed properly in UEFA competitions, with Hellas Verona being the one staff from the nation to make it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Cup (the UWCL’s predecessor) again in 200708.
This season, Roma have impressed with their attacking fashion of play below Alessandro Spugna, and are prime of the Serie A desk with an eight-point lead.
They’re set to face their largest take a look at of the season in Barcelona, and it is troublesome to think about that they will pull off an upset in opposition to final season’s overwhelmed finalists.
Arsenal have not been probably the most constant aspect this season, with Jonas Eidevall’s staff going by means of some main ups and downs all year long.
In current years, Arsenal, alongside different English golf equipment, have not been in a position to recover from the hurdle of the knockout spherical, and the Gunners have fallen quick within the quarter-finals the final three seasons they have been within the UWCL.
The staff has additionally needed to regulate to taking part in with out Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema, who’re each out with long-term accidents.
Their current 3-1 win over Chelsea within the Conti Cup ought to give them some confidence heading into their tie in opposition to Bayern Munich.
Chelsea have so much to show this season after disappointingly crashing out of the group levels final season.
Emma Hayes’ aspect are doing properly within the league, main the Women’s Super League by two factors with a recreation in hand, they usually managed to prime their UWCL group with 5 wins, and a 1-1 draw in opposition to Real Madrid.
The ache of the ultimate in 2021, by which they conceded 4 objectives inside 36 minutes, continues to be certainly a sore topic within the Chelsea dressing room, they usually’ll wish to proper that mistaken as quickly as doable.
It has been a season of almosts for Paris Saint-Germain this season. They are simply shy of prime of the Division 1 Feminine desk, one level behind Olympique Lyonnais. They missed out on prime of their UWCL group, their losses to Chelsea placing them in second place. They even misplaced 1-0 to Lyon within the Trophee des Championnes at first of the season.
PSG have particularly struggled with scoring this season, resulting in unnecessarily dropped factors, and should create a excessive quantity of possibilities and be extra decisive in entrance of aim this season if they need a spot within the semi-finals.
Similar to Arsenal, Bayern Munich have had some excessive factors this season, however they’ve additionally struggled in opposition to sides that they’re greater than able to beating.
One factor that may’t be questioned about this Bayern staff is their psychological power, which was greatest proven after they claimed a 3-1 victory over Barcelona on this 12 months’s group levels, ending the Spanish membership’s 16-match successful streak.
VfL Wolfsburg can by no means be counted out of the Women’s Champions League, and this 12 months, they have been particularly dominant in all competitions.
It’s a staff stacked in each space of the pitch, with a number of of their gamers impressing final summer time for Germany throughout the Euros, making it to the ultimate in Wembley. All eyes will particularily be on Lena Oberdorf, who has the flexibility to interrupt up opposition play and progress her staff ahead with nice velocity and ability.
Wolfsburg final received the Women’s Champions League in 2014, and followers are assured that they will return to successful Europe’s best competitors.
Olympique Lyonnais are Women’s Champions League royalty, there is no such thing as a doubt about that. The staff has received eight CL titles, which included a report 5 successive titles from 2016 to 2020.
Last 12 months, they received their eighth title in opposition to a Barcelona staff that had been flying excessive, turning them over 3-1 within the remaining. Some aggressive phrases had been exchanged forward of the much-anticipated match, with Ada Hegerberg saying: “There was girls’s soccer earlier than Barcelona, and it was performed right here for years.”
They have not been at their greatest this season, however simply when the doubts begin to creep in about this staff, it looks like they all the time rise from the ashes and show their rightful spot on prime.
Barcelona are coming into the knock-out rounds with revenge on their minds after the loss within the remaining final season.
They might not have Alexia Putellas at their disposal, however they’ve fared properly with out her. The Catalans have received each single recreation they’ve performed this season, bar one (Bayern Munich within the UWCL group levels), scored 137 objectives, and have solely conceded 11.
On present kind, it will be silly to look previous Barcelona as they’re clearly hungry to succeed in heights which have but to be achieved in girls’s soccer.
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