Just a few days after they face off in the Women’s League Cup final, Manchester City Women will lock horns with Chelsea Women in the first leg of the Women’s Champions League quarter-finals.
Chelsea prevailed in Sunday’s clash at Pride Park in what was the first of four consecutive meetings between the two sides.
Match preview
Man City made the decision to change their manager ahead of a difficult run of four successive matches against Chelsea, removing Gareth Taylor from his post before bringing Nick Cushing back for a second spell.
Cushing won four trophies in his first stint as Man City boss, winning the 2016 Women’s Super League title, the 2016-17 FA Cup and the League Cup on two occasions in 2014 and 2016.
Unfortunately for Cushing, he was unable to add to his trophy haul in his first game back in the dugout, overseeing a narrow 2-1 defeat in Sunday’s League Cup final against Chelsea at Pride Park.
After seeing one trophy opportunity pass them by, Man City will now turn their focus to Wednesday’s European clash, with the Citizens competing in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2020-21 after winning five of their six group games (L1).
The Citizens finished level on 15 points with reigning European champions Barcelona, but they ultimately had to settle for second place due to their inferior head-to-head record.
Man City currently boast a 100% home record in the 2024-25 Women’s Champions League, having won their four European matches (including qualifying) at the Joie Stadium by a combined 9-0 scoreline.
Chelsea celebrated the first trophy of the Sonia Bompastor era at the weekend, claiming a 2-1 win in the League Cup final thanks to a Mayra Ramirez effort and a Yui Hasegawa own goal.
The Blues will hope that was the first piece of silverware of a possible quadruple, and they will believe they have every chance of achieving that special, feat having avoided defeat in all 28 competitive matches of Bompastor’s tenure (W26, D2).
They have established an eight-point lead at the top of the WSL table and are in next month’s FA Cup semi-finals, but while there is still work to do in those competitions, the Blues will view the Women’s Champions League as the toughest one to win.
Chelsea’s best performance in Europe took place in 2020-21 when they went all the way to the final under Emma Hayes, before they fell to a heavy 4-0 defeat in the final against Barcelona.
The West London club will certainly take plenty of confidence from the fact they boast a perfect record in European quarter-finals, having progressed from each of their previous five appearances in the last eight.
They have also won each of their last three competitive matches against Man City, including a 1-0 victory in their most recent trip to the Joie Stadium in March 2024 in the League Cup semi-finals.
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Team News
Man City are unable to call upon defender Alex Greenwood and attacker Lauren Hemp, who are both working their way back from knee injuries.
January addition Rebecca Knaak is unlikely to be involved, having missed the last four matches with a hamstring problem.
Man City will have to assess the fitness of star striker Bunny Shaw after she was withdrawn with a small hamstring issue in the latter stages of Sunday’s cup final.
As for the visitors, they are without Naomi Girma, Sophie Ingle, Maelys Mpome, Kadeisha Buchanan, Sam Kerr, Zecira Musovic and Femke Liefting.
Mia Fishel has been in the last three matchday squads following her spell on the sidelines, but she is ineligible to feature in the Champions League after being left out of Chelsea’s list for the knockout phase.
Bompastor could make a few changes to freshen up her side, with Niamh Charles, Maika Hamano and Aggie Beever-Jones among those who could be considered for starting spots.
Manchester City Women possible starting lineup:
Yamashita; Casparij, Prior, Aleixandri, Ouahabi; Park, Hasegawa, Roord; Fujino, Fowler, Miedema
Chelsea Women possible starting lineup:
Hampton; Bronze, Bjorn, Bright, Baltimore; Cuthbert, Nusken; Rytting Kaneryd, Macario, James; Beever-Jones
We say: Manchester City Women 1-1 Chelsea Women
Man City will be desperate to make full use of home advantage ahead of next week’s return leg, but we think their 100% European home record will come to an end with a draw against a Chelsea side that are yet to lose since Bompastor took over the reins last summer.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
