The penultimate round of the Women’s Champions League group stage has concluded and we are one step closer to knowing who will be competing in European football after the winter break.
Ten of the 18 teams have at least confirmed their place in the quarter-final play-offs, including three English sides, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. Barcelona and Lyon defeated Benfica 3-1 and Manchester United 3-0 respectively to confirm their automatic advancement to the quarter-finals.
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This means the final two automatic spots are still up for grabs in the final week of competition. Chelsea beat Roma 6-0 and have the best chance of seizing the opportunity with 11 points, while Bayern Munich, which drew 2-2 with Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Wolfsburg 2-0 and Juventus, all have 10 points.
Manchester United is ninth in the standings, level with Arsenal on points but slightly worse on goal difference. Technically, the two are still competing for automatic qualification, but support from other quarters is needed.
Megan Feringa and Laia Servello Herrero break down the key talking points from this round.
Can Arsenal become more brutal in the final third?
Sometimes the destination is more important than the journey. This is especially true when it comes to exiting the Champions League group stages. Arsenal can at least say that as they secured a play-off spot with a 1-0 win over Twente on Tuesday.
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Europe’s reigning champions are unable to reach the knockout stages, which sounds like the worst buzzword of the season. But Arsenal also encountered difficulties in the group stage: losses to Lyon and Bayern Munich, the latter of which advanced in two draws in the Women’s Super League. But this team was full of quality and the quality in the end showed it, even if at times they struggled to prove their quality.
Such was the case against Twente on Tuesday: Arsenal dominated easily, their pressure wreaking havoc and wingers Beth Mead and Olivia Smith causing plenty of problems, but ultimately Mead’s first-half goal, assisted by Alessia Russo, struggled to come into play.
Twente had no response and only took two shots, one of which was on target. Arsenal’s defense deserves credit for denying them time and space, particularly in midfield. But offensively, there’s more to be desired. Speaking after the game, Mead spoke of the need to “take more risks in the final third” to help them get away from too many chances.
“We obviously want to score more goals,” she told Disney+. “We had a chance to do that. We weren’t brutal enough in front of the goal. When you have a chance, you have to score.”
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The opportunities are there, which is arguably half the challenge. It feels like it’s only a matter of time before these opportunities transform. But attacking in the final third will be crucial if Arsenal are to defend their European title this season. The final European test against KU Leuven is next week.
Megan Ferringa
Barcelona win without key players
There are certainly not many teams in the world who can still impress in the Champions League despite losing six key players.
Barcelona were without the injured Aitana Bonmati, Patri Guijaro, Ona Butler, Salma Paralullo, Kika Nazareth against Benfica, as well as Irene Paredes who had a fever at the last minute. Even so, they beat Benfica and all but sealed a spot in the next round.
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Judging from the first half alone, it is a miracle that Barcelona did not win with an overwhelming advantage. This time, the miracle has a name: goalie Lena Pauls. Special mention goes to the Catalans who hit the post three times. Claudia Pina hit the woodwork twice in the 17th minute and in stoppage time, while Caroline Graham Hansen also hit the woodwork in first-half stoppage time. Even Alexia Putras tried her hand at the bike kick.
But despite this, Barcelona only led 1-0 at the break thanks to Evar Payol’s goal.
Benfica already knew they had no chance of progressing further into the game and after the break they were determined to make the home side go for the win and scored soon after. A poor clearance from Mapi Leon and a lack of communication with Cata Coll led to Chandra Davidson making it 1-1 before Christy Ucheibe’s own goal sealed the victory for the Putellas.
Barcelona are not at their best but the context is necessary as they are without important players. Their attack lacked accuracy and could have scored more goals, but the defense was also fragile at times, which kept Benfica hanging on until midway through the second half.
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Lea Servello Herrero
Skinner’s rotation experiment backfired
The team roster is breathtaking. Rachel Williams, 37, leads the charge against eight-time European champion OL Lyonnes. Jess Park, Ella Toone and Julia Olme Zigiotti were on the bench, replaced by Lisa Naalsund, Simi Awujo and Fridolina Rolfo, while forward Elisabeth Terland was unable to play due to injury in the 2-1 win over West Ham United.
Parker, Toone and Chigiotti all returned after 45 minutes, and it was telling that United were outplayed by a talented OL who opened the scoring in the 12th minute via Tabitha Chawinga’s header and caused United minor inconveniences throughout the remainder of the second half.
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United did not have a touch or shot in the OL box until the 40th minute, when Hinata Miyazawa’s deft cross found Melvin Mallard unmarked in the area, but the France international’s shot failed to hit the target.
The home side looked improved in the second half in their battles with and without the ball, but were still unable to test veteran Christian Endler and fail to find a shot on target. Although Lyon missed many good opportunities, their strength was finally reflected. Melchid Dumonnet fired a fine shot into the top right corner in the final 10 minutes and then completed a brilliant team effort in the 90th minute to set up Lyon’s third attack as they swept past Manchester United.
United’s rotation – and subsequent lack of rotation – stood out as a gamble that went completely wrong on the part of manager Mark Skinner.
Skinner talked after the game about the need to weaken the OL’s physical presence, especially in set pieces. His decision to start Williams and Narsande was to do this, and planned to drip-feed more technical players throughout the game. However, the disparity in first-half performance forced Skinner to bring on Park Ji-sung and Chigiotti to regain some control of the midfield and provide some cohesion in attack.
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Even so, the fact that United’s performance will be so severely affected is the latest sign that United’s management will need to recruit in January to continue to compete at this level.
Megan Ferringa
Chelsea are ruthless again
It’s hard to recall Chelsea’s goal woes against Everton as Scheike Nusken scored his team’s fourth goal of the night via a penalty kick in the 51st minute. This brings Chelsea back to normal: ruthless.
They needed a performance like this after suffering their first league defeat of the Sonia Bompasto era in a 1-0 loss to Everton, which ended a record 34-match unbeaten run.
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But sometimes breaking records eases the burden, and that seemed to be the case, as Chelsea opened the scoring 12 minutes into the match when Sandy Baltimore’s cross was met by Roma’s Valentina Bergamaski, before Retin Canalid set up Vic Kaptan for the second before adding the third herself. With less than 15 minutes remaining, Maika Hamano and Lucy Bronze put their names on the score sheet.
If this weekend’s defeat was meant to leave an indelible mark on Chelsea, it clearly did not. Head coach Bonpaste made six substitutions, and while some pundits questioned whether the constant cuts and substitutions contributed to the team’s inconsistent performance and lack of clinical edge in the final third, Chelsea’s strength has long been their enviable depth.
Against Roma they proved why. If they want to automatically reach the quarter-finals, they need to do so again against Wolfsburg.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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