Chelsea to Face Real Madrid in Women’s Champions League Group Stage
Emma Hayes’ Chelsea side have been drawn in Group D of the Women’s Champions League alongside Spanish giants Real Madrid, Swedish club BK Hacken and French outfit Paris FC. The Blues, who were runners-up in 2021, are the only English representatives and were seeded in pot one as Women’s Super League champions.
Real Madrid were quarter-finalists in 2022, while Paris FC knocked out Arsenal and last season’s finalists Wolfsburg in the qualifying rounds. Chelsea were knocked out in the semi-finals by Barcelona last season, while Scottish champions Glasgow City were also knocked out in second-round qualifying by Brann and Manchester United were knocked out in qualifying by Paris St-Germain, who are drawn in the same group as Bayern Munich.
Defending champions Barcelona are in Group A and will face FC Rosengard, Benfica and Eintracht Frankfurt.
## Women’s Champions League Group Stage Draw
The full draw for the Women’s Champions League group stage is as follows:
* Group A: Barcelona, FC Rosengard, Benfica, Eintracht Frankfurt
* Group B: Lyon, Slavia Prague, St Polten, SK Brann
* Group C: Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Roma, Ajax
* Group D: Chelsea, Real Madrid, BK Hacken, Paris FC
The Women’s Champions League is one of the most prestigious tournaments in women’s football and is a major step towards achieving gender equality in the sport. This year’s tournament promises to be an exciting one as some of the best teams in Europe battle it out for the title of champions of Europe.
Chelsea have been one of the most successful teams in the Women’s Super League over the past few years and will be looking to make their mark on the European stage this season with a strong showing in the Champions League. The Blues have a strong squad and with Emma Hayes at the helm they will be looking to make a deep run into the tournament this year.
Real Madrid are also one of the favourites to win the tournament this year and have a wealth of experience in Europe having reached the quarter finals last season and having won the tournament in 2017 and 2018. The Spanish side have a strong squad and will be looking to make a deep run into the tournament this year as well.
The other teams in Group D are BK Hacken from Sweden and Paris FC from France who both qualified for the tournament through the qualifying rounds and will be looking to make an impact on the European stage this season as well.
The group stage of the tournament will begin on October 20th with the final taking place on May 16th 2021 at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy. It promises to be an exciting tournament and it will be interesting to see how Chelsea and Real Madrid fare against their European counterparts this season.