The third qualifying round of the UEFA Women’s Champions League gets underway on Thursday, as 18 teams battle it out for the final nine spots in the new-look league phase.
So, what is the new format? How does it differ from the men’s competition? And when is the draw for the league phase?
Also, what’s this new competition called the UEFA Women’s Europa Cup?
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What is the new Women’s Champions League format?
Let’s start with the basics. Under the old format, 16 teams competed in four groups of four teams, with the top two going through to the quarterfinals — and then onto the semifinals and the final.
This season sees the Women’s Champions League take on a similar format to the revamped men’s competition (which has 36 teams) — with all 18 teams in one big league table. That means two extra teams will be in the competition proper.
Nine teams qualified automatically from the top seven nations:
Titleholders: Arsenal
France: OL Lyonnes, Paris Saint-Germain
Germany: Bayern Munich, VfL Wolfsburg
Spain: Barcelona
England: Chelsea
Portugal: Benfica
Italy: Juventus
The final nine places are filled through the qualifying rounds, with teams that lose dropping into the new UEFA Women’s Europa Cup (more on that later).
Final qualifying round playoff ties:
Valerenga vs. Ferencvaros
Vorskla Poltava vs. OH Leuven
St. Pölten vs. Fortuna Hjørring
Katowice vs. Twente
BK Häcken vs. Atlético Madrid
Paris FC vs. Austria Vienna
Brann vs. Manchester United
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Real Madrid
AS Roma vs. Sporting CP
So, how does it work?
• Teams in positions 13 to 18 are eliminated at the end of the league phase in December.
• The eight teams in positions 5 through 12 play in the knockout phase playoffs, in February, to earn a place in the quarterfinals.
• The top four go straight through to the quarterfinals, played in March and April.
From the knockout phase playoffs onward, the competition has a two-legged format through to the semifinals, with a traditional one-legged final, but with limited draws.
How does the league phase feed into the knockout bracket?
The new format gives importance to league placing with teams paired. The higher you finish, the more favorable your path, including that jump direct to the quarterfinals for the top four.
For the women’s tournament, there’s just one draw, on Dec. 18, which sets the full path of the bracket. There is no country protection, meaning teams from the same league can face each other throughout the knockouts.
Here’s how it works.
For the knockout phase playoffs, the draw will create four ties from:
11 or 12 vs. 5 or 6 (two ties)
9 or 10 vs. 7 or 8 (two ties)
The draw will place the four ties which have been created into a position in the bracket, in either the silver or blue half.
Then the paired teams in positions 1 & 2, and 3 & 4, will be drawn into one of two possible positions, again to create fixtures.
For the quarterfinals, the draw will be:
The winners of a tie involving 7, 8, 9 and 10 will play 1 or 2 (two ties)
The winners of a tie involving 5, 6, 11 and 12 will play 3 or 4 (two ties)
The whole bracket is now set.
The teams that finish in positions 1-4 will be at home in the second leg of the quarterfinals.
The semifinal ties are already set by the bracket draw. In principle, the teams ranked 1 and 2 will play the semifinal second leg at home. However, if 1 and/or 2 are knocked out in the quarterfinals, the home right will pass to the team that has eliminated them. For instance, if Arsenal (first) are knocked out by Paris FC (ninth), it’s Paris FC who will have home advantage in the final four.
So, it isn’t based on league placing — and that means it’s impossible for the teams that finish in third and fourth to get a home semifinal second leg, as they cannot claim it off first or second.
OK, so how does the league phase draw work?
The league phase draw will take place on Sept. 19.
Rather than placing teams into groups, the draw now creates the fixtures. There will be three pots each containing six teams — ranked by UEFA club coefficient. Each club will play six games, with two opponents drawn from each of the three pots. One match from each pot will be at home, and the other away.
That’s 18 teams and 18 unique fixture lists to be drawn.
There are two main principles in the league phase:
• No club can play another team from their own league. (For example, Arsenal cannot play Chelsea.)
• A club can play no more than two teams from one country. (If Arsenal draw Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain, they cannot then play Paris FC.)
The draw ceremony will be noticeably different, too. In previous seasons, the fates of all teams would be decided by a manual draw, with balls and pots for teams and groups, by a parade of former players. But the new format is so complicated that it would take too long to complete in that way.
Here’s how it now works:
• A team will be drawn on stage (starting with Pot 1 and ending with Pot 3).
• A computer will randomly select that club’s six opponents (subject to the constraints of the draw) and determine which match is played home or away.
Pot positions might not be so crucial, but they still have relevance as each will contain a range of quality. The distribution of home and away games will also be important given the range of possible opponents for each club.
While the draw creates the fixture list, the order in which games are played will not be published until later.
When will the games be played?
Third qualifying round
Leg 1: Sept. 11
Leg 2: Sept. 18
League Phase
Matchday 1: Oct. 7-8
Matchday 2: Oct. 15-16
Matchday 3: Nov. 11-12
Matchday 4: Nov. 19-20
Matchday 5: Dec. 9-10
Matchday 6: Dec. 17
On Matchday 6, all nine matches kick off at the same time.
Quarterfinals
Leg 1: Feb. 11-12
Leg 2: Feb. 18-19
Semifinals
Leg 1: March 24-25
Leg 2: April 1-2
Final
May 22, 23 or 24 at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, Norway.
What is the UEFA’s Women’s Europa Cup?
It’s a new second-tier European competition but doesn’t automatically feature any teams from the top seven nations: France, Germany, Spain, England, Portugal, Italy and Sweden.
A total of 43 teams will compete, with runners-up and third-place teams from the nations ranked 8 to 24 earning a place by right.
The allocation will be filled by teams losing in the qualifying rounds of the Women’s Champions League. For instance, Inter Milan (Italy) are the one team from a top-seven league who have already been eliminated and have dropped into the first qualifying round of the Women’s Europa Cup. Further teams (at least two) from the top seven countries will feature if they lose in the final qualifying round of the Champions League.
The whole competition, including the final, is played in a two-legged knockout format.
First qualifying round
Leg 1: Sept. 10-11
Leg 2: Sept. 17-18
Second qualifying round
Leg 1: Oct. 7-8
Leg 2: Oct.15-16
Round of 16
Leg 1: Nov. 11-12
Leg 2: Nov. 19-20
Quarterfinals
Leg 1: Feb. 11-12
Leg 2: Feb. 18-19
Semifinals
Leg 1: March 24-25
Leg 2: April 1-2
Final
Leg 1: April 25 or 26
Leg 2: May 2 or 3
