UEFA Women’s Champions League adopts new league phase format

The UEFA Women’s Champions League is entering its second season under a revamped competition format. Moving away from the traditional group stage, the tournament now utilizes a single league phase featuring 18 clubs sharing a unified standings table.

Under this new system, each club plays six matches—three at home and three away—against opponents drawn from three different strength pots based on UEFA club coefficients. The final standings determine the path to the knockout stages: teams finishing 1st through 4th qualify directly for the quarter-finals, while those finishing 5th through 12th enter a play-off round for the remaining four spots. Teams ranked 13th to 18th are eliminated.

Major contenders in the competition include defending champions FC Barcelona, Lyon, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich. Upcoming fixtures include high-profile matchups such as Barcelona against Paris FC and Lyon against Servette Geneve.