The UEFA Women’s Champions League has undergone a major transformation this season, ditching the traditional group stage format in favor of a new 18-team league phase structure (following the men’s competition lead with a “Swiss model” variant), and the draw for this league phase was held on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland.
Chelsea, as the Champions of England, were seeded in Pot 1 alongside the continent’s elite including Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Sonia Bompastor’s former club Olympique Lyonnais.
Fellow WSL side Arsenal were also in Pot 1 as defending champions of the competition.
Long story short, the Blues will face Barcelona (Pot 1), Wolfsburg (Pot 1), Roma (Pot 2), St. Pölten (Pot 2), Paris FC (Pot 3), and FC Twente (Pot 3) — each team playing six different opponents once in this new format.
The specific dates and kick-off times have been confirmed today, with Chelsea’s campaign kicking off away to Dutch side FC Twente on October 8 at 5:45pm UK time. The Blues will play three matches at Stamford Bridge, including a blockbuster clash against Barcelona on November 20.
Here’s the full schedule for Chelsea’s league phase matches (all times in BST):
MATCHDAY 1 – October 8: FC Twente vs Chelsea (17:45)
MATCHDAY 2 – October 15: Chelsea vs Paris FC (20:00)
MATCHDAY 3 – November 11: St. Pölten vs Chelsea (20:00)
MATCHDAY 4 – November 20: Chelsea vs Barcelona (20:00)
MATCHDAY 5 – December 10: Chelsea vs Roma (20:00)
MATCHDAY 6 – December 17: Wolfsburg vs Chelsea (20:00)
Under the new format, the top four teams from the 18-team league phase will advance directly to the quarter-finals, while teams finishing 5th-12th will enter a two-legged play-off for the remaining spots. Teams finishing 13th or below will be eliminated from the competition entirely.
