Arsenal Women have been drawn against Lyon, Juventus and FC Zurich in the UEFA Women’s Champions League group stages. All three of the Gunners home games will be played at Emirates Stadium.
Matches will be played on the following dates, with details of precise fixture dates and opponents to follow:
Matchday 1: 19/20 October
Matchday 2: 26/27 October
Matchday 3: 23/24 November
Matchday 4: 7/8 December
Matchday 5: 15/16 December
Matchday 6: 21/22 December
The Gunners qualified by virtue of defeating Ajax 3-2 across two legs in the qualifying round, having finished 2nd in the WSL last season. Arsenal won the tournament in 2007, the only British team to do so but have been eliminated in the quarter-finals in their last two UWCL campaigns.
Arsenal were beaten by seven-time winners Lyon in the 2011 quarter-finals. The clash with Juventus reunites Arsenal with their former boss Joe Montemurro who guided us to the league title in 2019, while Arsenal played FC Zurich in 2008 in the competition and ran out 7-2 winners. Kim Little scored in that game.
Horrid group. Lyon better than PSG. Juventus, now just as scary as RM. Zurich, the only ‘minnow’.
Still, Chelsea don’t have it easy either with PSG and RM.
Wolfsburg are the real winners with a particularly soft group.
Given the difficulty we had against Ajax, we’re going to have to considerably up our game to get to the QFs.
I think group games will be approached differently to a knock-out qualifying round – there was more at stake in those two games against Ajax than any individual group game. That seemed particularly evident in the first half of the away leg. Personally, I don’t think Lyon are unbeatable, especially at the moment, but I was hoping we’d get them simply because we played Barca and Wolfsburg last season. There’s a lot more at stake for Chelsea, after failing to get past the group stage last year and summer recruitment that seems aimed at the UWCL rather than the WSL.… Read more »
I disagree, Hans – we have a superb squad in place for the season, plus a better manager than Juve, with the greatest of respect and thanks for/to Joe.
I reckon we’ll up our game in all 6 of the ties, and let’s not forget the 3 home games are at the Emirates – which will benefit our many top quality football players (not a strength Ajax had i.e. quality actual footballers) including against Lyon too, who we should no longer have any reason to fear.
Better manager than Joe? Only a very few years ago Juventus was bad; now, it is good. He doesn’t have as good as roster as Arsenal has, that’s for sure, but he’s done a damn good job with that team.
Tough draw, you’d imagine the Juve games will be key.
In a nutshell, yep!
I hope i can watch them vs zurich, missed the men
Among Pot 3, dont think there is much difference between Juve, Rosengard and Real, so there is no easy draw per se. Needless to say, we need to up our game. Given OL’s injuries, we also have a chance of nicking something from them as compared to vs Barca.
Tough but I think this is may be good for improving our level.
I mean, just look at the team that played Ajax at the Emirates and the team that played in the Netherlands. I believe the quality of the opposition would improve our play as well. The real competition is Lyon BTW.
Good luck to the girls!
To quote Tobin from last year, “It’s better when it’s difficult.” Really looking forward to some amazing games against top-flight teams. Who doesn’t want that?
Tough group indeed but the only way to get better is to pitch yourself against the best.
I’d rather see the Gunners beat Lyon 2-1 than demolish some unheard of amateur team 10-0!
Lyon have been devastated by injuries. Macario, Majri and Carpenter, three of their mainstays, have been out for months recovering from knee ligament injuries and will not play. (Majri is also pregnant and soon to have a child–if she hasn’t had it already.) I think Hegerberg, who not long ago got back on the field after suffering a ligament tear that kept her out for a year and a half or so, is hurt again–though not sure what the injury is. She hasn’t played in recent games. That’s four Lyon starters and four of their best players. Right now the… Read more »