Arsenal Women, Chelsea Women and Manchester City Women have discovered who they will play in the group stage of the Women's Champions League.
For the first time in the history of the competition, three clubs from the Women's Super League will compete in the group stage, as Arsenal and Man City came through qualifying to join direct entrants Chelsea in the tournament proper.
The Gunners reversed a 1-0 deficit against Swedish outfit BK Hacken to advance 4-1 on aggregate on Thursday evening in their final qualifier, while Man City put eight past Paris FC without reply over two legs.
The latter have been rewarded for their prolific exploits with a daunting group-stage draw, as Gareth Taylor's side must pit their wits against reigning champions Barcelona, who have won three of the last four editions of the competition.
St Polten and Hammarby join Man City and Barcelona in Group D, while Arsenal have also drawn two European heavyweights in Bayern Munich and Juventus as they prepare for their return to the group stage.
Norwegian champions Valerenga will also bid to deny the Gunners a spot in the quarter-finals, while WSL holders Chelsea are set for an immediate reunion with Real Madrid, whom they clashed with in the 2023-24 group stage.
© Imago
During their final season under Emma Hayes, Chelsea were held to a 2-2 draw by Real Madrid in the Spanish capital - Los Blancos' only point of the tournament - before triumphing 2-1 in West London.
The Blues will also engage in a battle of the Brits with Celtic, who complete Group B alongside Dutch side FC Twente, while Group A features a mouthwatering showdown between two renowned continental powerhouses in Lyon and Wolfsburg.
The French club have won the tournament a record eight times, beating Wolfsburg in the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2019-20 finals, although the German giants defeated Lyon in the 2012-13 showpiece match.
Unlike the men's Champions League, which has adopted a Swiss-style model of one league table for the 2024-25 season, the Women's Champions League will continue with four groups of four before moving to a similar format next season.
The group stage runs from October 8 to December 18, and the top two sides from each group will automatically progress to the quarter-finals, which will be held over two weeks in March.
The semi-finals then take place on the 19-20 and the 26-27 April, before the final at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon on May 25.
Women's 2024-25 Champions League group stage:
Group A: Lyon, Wolfsburg, Roma, Galatasaray
Group B: Chelsea, Real Madrid, FC Twente, Celtic
Group C: Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Juventus, Valerenga
Group D: Barcelona, Manchester City, St Polten, Hammarby
