first 18-team uefa women’s champions league The group stage is over! We have six match days left in the same league-stage tables, as well as many of the world’s best players on display, but we have now reached the final 12 sides.
How did things go for the teams involved? It’s safe to say that this didn’t go to plan for everyone, and our grades reflect that.
OH Leuven (A+)
They may have only finished 12th, but securing a place in the knockout stage playoffs would have been beyond the Belgian giants’ dreams in their first UWCL tournament. Wins over FC Twente and draws with PSG, Paris FC and Roma led them to success. They even managed to limit Barcelona and Arsenal to only three goals each.
Manchester United (A)
The first UWCL campaign for United, and what a first campaign it was. A string of wins in their first three matches against Várenga, Atlético and PSG set them up for success, and a 1–0 win over Juventus on the final day meant that defeats to Wolfsburg and OL Lyon did not matter much. A paper-thin team managed to secure a favorable playoff draw by finishing sixth, and that’s some accomplishment.
Barcelona (A-)
They finished top of the table, which was fully expected following a matchday 7–1 thrashing of Bayern, and a goal difference of plus-17 from their five wins reflected their superiority. But the 1-1 draw with Chelsea showed they may be vulnerable as the tournament progresses, and will have to find a way to cope without injured star midfielders Patrice and Etana Bonamati.
OL Lyonesse (A-)
OL Lyon’s star power has shone through with an average of three goals per game and five wins out of six. But they needed to come back from being 3-0 down at halftime to Juventus to earn a 3-3 draw, so they did not have everything their way. They are definitely one of the strong contenders to reach the finals.
Chelsea (B+)
In true Chelsea style, anything less than 100% is no good, so two draws (against FC Twente and Barcelona) have marked them down in the grade. Otherwise, he scored 16 goals against Paris FC, St. Pölten and Roma, before a 2–1 comeback win against Wolfsburg on the final day sealed their place in the top four.
Bayern Munich (B+)
A 7–1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona suggested it would be a tough campaign, but Bayern turned things around by beating Juventus, Arsenal (with a spectacular comeback), PSG and Vålerenga. Even a 2–2 draw against Atlético Madrid could not halt their progress. They will be a tough opponent for anyone.
Arsenal (B-)
The performance of the defending champions was not good. The failures of the other teams saw them finish in the top half of the playoff draw for the knockout stage, but it was a shock that they did not qualify automatically after disappointing defeats to OL Lyon and Bayern Munich. They performed well to beat Real Madrid 2–1 to avoid the relegation zone, but were also fortunate to play lower-ranked OH Leuven, Benfica and FC Twente to get some much-needed points on the board.
Valarenga (B-)
They fought for playoff qualification until the final matchday, which was not initially on the cards. The win over Roma was the Norwegian side’s crowning glory, while they blew a 2–0 lead over St. Pölten (ending a 2–2 draw), and lost by narrow margins to Man United, Wolfsburg and Paris FC, before losing 3–0 to Bayern on the final day. But for that draw with St. Pölten, they could have advanced.
Twenty (C+)
A shock 1-1 draw with Chelsea on the opening matchday might have set the tone, but they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Leuven in the next game, and that says it all. Two draws (the second was against Benfica) were not enough to avoid elimination, before they almost beat Real Madrid in the final game, but drew 1–1.
Real Madrid (C+)
Everything was looking good for Madrid after beating Roma 6-2 in the first game and winning 2-1 over PSG in the second. They faltered with a 1–1 draw away to Paris FC before losing to Arsenal, but then things turned around with a matchday win over Wolfsburg. This meant they only had to beat vulnerable Twente to seal the automatic spot. But they played a 1-1 draw and now they will have to face a tough knockout draw.
Juventus (C)
Juve failed to get out of the group stage last season behind Arsenal and Bayern and were again very inconsistent. They beat those they had to beat: Benfica, St. Pölten and Atlético. And they did almost enough to beat Bayern (lost 2–1 due to a stoppage-time goal) and OL Lyon (draw 3–3, led 3–0). But when it mattered, they lost 1–0 at home to Manchester United on the final day and failed to seal an automatic place.
Wolfsburg (C)
The two-time champions and four-time runners-up are looking to get back to the top of the game, but as evidenced by the 3-1 defeat to OL Lyon and the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea, they are not there yet. Wins over PSG, Vålerenga and Man United were routine, but they really messed up in a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid. Having been expected to seal an automatic spot after the fourth day of matches, they now have an unfavorable spot in the playoffs after finishing ninth, although no one would want to face them.
Paris FC (C)
They performed better than their local rivals PSG, but it was a very mediocre performance from the Parisian club. An early 2–2 draw at home to OH Leuven, a 4–0 defeat to Chelsea and a 2–0 defeat to Barcelona showed they would not cause too much trouble in the playoffs, although they did hold Real Madrid to a 1–1 draw with Caroline Weir scoring a 98th-minute equaliser, as well as defeating Benfica and Vålerenga.
Atletico Madrid (C)
Defeats to Juventus and Man United, as well as a 2–2 draw with Bayern, saw Atlético struggle on home soil. But their away form saw them defeat FC Twente and St. Pölten before losing 4–0 to OL Lyon, which was enough to seal a bottom half playoff draw. But he won’t be worried about having too many opponents.
Scheduled Tribe. Polten (c)
They finished bottom of the table, but that was quite expected. The Swiss managed to pick up a point in their comeback win at Minnow Vålerenga, while preventing OL Lyon from scoring more than three goals. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the rest and they had disappointing endings minus-25 Goal difference from their six matches.
Benfica (D)
After taking an early lead over Juventus in the first game, the Portuguese team never really got going and lost four of six. Yes, they faced tough games against Juve, Arsenal, Paris FC and Barcelona, but their only points came from draws with FC Twente and PSG.
Roma (F)
They are top of Serie A, but Roma were very poor in Europe and seem to be missing the spark of former manager Alessandro Spagna. They suffered defeats to Real Madrid (6–2) and Barcelona (4–0) in their opening games and never recovered. They should have picked up valuable points against Vålerenga and OH Leuven, but managed only draws against them, before Chelsea suffered a 6–0 defeat ending their hopes of making the playoffs. The 6–1 victory over weak St. Pölten on the final day meant nothing.
Paris Saint-Germain (F)
What a terrible campaign. Many would have expected PSG to push for an automatic qualification spot at the top of the table, but instead they lost their first four games (to Wolfsburg, Real Madrid, Man United and Bayern) before a 0–0 draw with OH Leuven sealed their fate and they could only draw with Benfica on the final day, without anything at stake. They have had a lot of squad turnover, but that is no excuse for this level of performances.
