Girls’s Champions League Briefing: Man Utd’s debut delight, sloppy Chelsea and are Barca again?

[ad_1] The Girls’s Champions League kicked off this week and the primary spherical of the inaugural league section didn't disappoint.

Holders Arsenal have been dealt an early defeat, whereas on a troublesome evening for Chelsea, Manchester United emerged victorious of their European debut.

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Barcelona and OL Lyonnes are battling for the title of early competitors favourites, and Wolfsburg, Atletico Madrid and Actual Madrid loved bountiful nights in entrance of purpose.

Under, The Athletic walks you thru among the key speaking factors from the primary two nights of fixtures.

Manchester United win… however want extra assist “Chelsea are dropping!”

So rang the delighted screech of a younger Manchester United fan exterior Progress with Unity stadium, an hour earlier than United’s Girls’s Champions League debut in opposition to Valarenga on Wednesday evening.

Typically it’s the little issues that get the blood pumping, like being the one English facet to emerge from the primary week of the Champions League league section clutching three factors.

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And, really, that is fairly a giant factor, even with out the schadenfreude of home rivals’ slip-ups or the truth that a lot of United’s match was, football-wise, very unspectacular. A 1-0 victory on United’s Champions League debut represented the end result of seven years of the membership’s gradual rebirth after the ladies’s group was disbanded in 2005 following the Glazers’ takeover.

United have been deserved winners in a match that lacked a lot in the way in which of texture or thrill. A primary-half penalty from Maya Le Tissier in the end separated the 2 sides, a touching second for the United captain as she despatched Valarenga keeper Tove Enblom the mistaken method. The purpose capped off one more dependable efficiency from arguably England’s most in-form centre-back.

A rousing, roaring conflict could have felt extra becoming for the event, and would have given a greater indication of how far United could get on this competitors, however Valerenga by no means threatened to ship it. They mustered three pictures, one heading in the right direction, with 32 per cent possession, and solely triggered some concern within the closing 10 minutes as the sport was stretched.

Marc Skinner’s facet will face far sterner challenges. They’ve been drawn with Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Lyon, Wolfsburg and Paris Saint-Germain, all of whom — bar PSG — received their opening matches. They'll take a look at the depth of Skinner’s skinny squad and punish them for any complacency in entrance of purpose (United managed 16 pictures, seven heading in the right direction, however few distressed Enblom).

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Regardless of the historic event, the one United board member at Leigh was Collette Roche, United’s chief working officer, that means Skinner’s post-match entreaties for extra funding will have to be relayed again to Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers.

They missed out on seeing a squad transferring in the precise route, buoyed in defence by Le Tissier and teasing out a convincing attacking synergy with summer season signing Jess Park at its coronary heart. They have been greater than able to being the one English facet to emerge victorious this week however want extra if they're to make this debut marketing campaign as memorable as potential.

Chelsea toil at Twente Sonia Bompastor’s post-match entreaty to Chelsea at FC Twente involved need — particularly the necessity for her facet to seek out extra of it following their 1-1 draw.

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The notion that the nine-time Girls’s Tremendous League champions want extra starvation within the one competitors that has traditionally evaded them could sound faintly ridiculous however this was an evening that left loads to be desired from Chelsea.

The WSL champions dominated the stats, having 64 touches of their opposition’s penalty space to Twente’s 34, 188 profitable passes into the ultimate third to Twente’s 34, and lacking three large probabilities out of 4 created to Twente’s one probability made and brought. However the Dutch champions have been hungry, a younger group (all bar two of their gamers are 25 or underneath) that was a textbook instance of tenacity, notably on the counter.

Bompastor opted to rotate her squad from the weekend’s 1-1 draw with United, resting midfielders Erin Cuthbert, Wieke Kaptein and Keira Walsh whereas pushing Sandy Baltimore to left-back. However a squad that has lengthy been praised for its depth felt something however sturdy.

In the end, nevertheless, this was a sport of execution, a component that Chelsea have struggled with at instances this season regardless of their high quality. In 4 home matches, they've scored 9 objectives, but in opposition to Manchester United and Leicester they may solely handle a single purpose, unable to capitalise in harmful positions. A late penalty, coolly transformed by Baltimore, was required for Chelsea to return residence with a degree from Twente.

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“We created loads of alternatives and couldn’t rating a couple of,” Bompastor stated in her post-match evaluation. “We had a number of conditions within the field and we had 18 crosses, however solely six instances we have been first on the ball. This isn't sufficient while you play a Champions League sport.”

Chelsea have a kinder draw than others within the league section, with loads of time to get better. And whereas Twente’s post-match celebrations emphasise these are large factors dropped by Chelsea, the purpose they salvaged may very well be important if they're to keep away from having to trawl by the playoffs.

Let’s speak about OL Arsenal are in disaster, apparently.

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A four-game winless run in all competitions and two losses in as many matches (3-2 within the WSL in opposition to Manchester Metropolis, 2-1 in opposition to OL Lyonnes) for the reigning European champions definitely feels crisis-adjacent, and Tuesday evening’s defeat to OL Lyonnes highlighted recurring points – a dearth of ball development, a defence nonetheless missing sufficient restoration tempo and top, and goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar struggling to seek out rhythm.

However all of that fails to say OL Lyonnes, who actually deserve a point out. Arsenal may need opened the door for OL’s Melchie Dumornay to punish them however the 22-year-old Haiti worldwide’s tenacity and finesse to execute was emblematic of her group’s efficiency.

A lot can be made from the 21 objectives (!) scored in 5 matches underneath former Barcelona supervisor Jonatan Giraldez, appointed this summer season, however this was full-throttle soccer aimed on the jugular. OL pressed excessive and quick, pressured turnovers with their physicality, handed not into protected, lateral area however straight into Arsenal’s hazard areas, all whereas replenishing from a bench like some magical Mary Poppins-inspired Michele Kang carpet bag: USWNT midfielder Lily Yohannes, UWCL all-time prime goalscorer Ada Hegerberg, Germany ahead Jule Model.

There had been questions over how convincingly Giraldez may embed his possession-based philosophy in a primary season with a lot squad change, notably with France’s Primera Division performing extra as a niggling formality (OL Lyonnes have received 18 of the previous 19 league titles). Tuesday’s deserved win is the newest suggestion that he would possibly have already got the solutions.

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Are Barcelona again? Talking of groups with nonetheless pristine data within the 2025-26 marketing campaign and a rising penchant for gracing our timelines with objectives… hey, Barcelona. We’ve missed you.

Tuesday’s 7-1 thrashing of Bayern Munich was classic Barca, an artfully terminal clinic in How To Soccer that started within the fourth minute with two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas’ curling end and culminated within the 92nd as Claudia Pina made it seven along with her second purpose of the sport.

All of which makes it 38 objectives in seven matches this season for Barcelona, with simply two objectives conceded. The urge arises to announce that Barca Are Again, to put bets on their inevitable triumph and neglect about these 17 departures from the primary group this summer season that we have been yammering about a lot final month.

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And perhaps we should always. However we must also point out how little Bayern appeared fussed on working off the ball, serving extra as politely social distancing escorts to Barcelona’s assault than any sort of significant opposition. It's undeniably a disappointing consequence for the German giants, however Barcelona’s slick assault ought to strike worry into their rivals.

Outcomes Juventus 2-1 Benfica

Paris FC 2-2 Oud-Heverlee Leuven

Arsenal 2-1 Lyon

Barcelona 7-1 Bayern Munich

Actual Madrid 6-2 Roma

Twente 1-1 Chelsea

Manchester United 1-0 Valarenga

St Polten 0-6 Atletico Madrid

Wolfsburg 4-0 Paris Saint Germain

This text initially appeared in The Athletic.

Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona, Champions League, Girls's Soccer

2025 The Athletic Media Firm

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