UWCL: Everything you need to know as the Women's Champions League kicks off

The UEFA Women's Champions League returns this week, with Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea all competing for the European crown.

Barcelona won the 2025/26 edition in Oslo, Norway, with captain Alexia Putellas departing in the summer.

While Putellas, now at London City Lionesses, will not have the chance to compete for Europe's biggest prize this year, three Women's Super League sides will be hoping to go all the way.

Which teams are in the Women's Champions League?

There are 18 teams competing in the 2026/27 UEFA Women's Champions League league phase, representing 11 different nations.

England, France and Italy have three representatives each: Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City; OL Lyonnes, Paris FC and Paris Saint-Germain; Roma, Inter and Juventus. Spain has Barcelona and Real Madrid, while Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland and Belgium are each represented by one club.

How did the teams qualify?

Nine clubs qualified directly for the league phase, while the other nine secured their places by coming through the qualifying rounds.

Barcelona entered as reigning European champions while Arsenal, Chelsea, OL Lyonnes, Paris FC, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Roma and Benfica also secured direct places based on their domestic or European qualification routes.

Because England and France are currently Europe's two strongest women's football nations per the UEFA coefficient, they each received two automatic places, while Spain, Germany, Italy, and Portugal got one each.

Because Barcelona qualified for the league phase both as European champions and Spanish champions, their additional place was reallocated. That allowed Swedish side Häcken, who won the inaugural UEFA Women's Europa Cup, to enter the Champions League league phase.

The remaining nine teams had to navigate qualifying rounds, with the final places confirmed after the third qualifying round concluded on 2 September.

What is the Women's Champions League format?

The 2026/27 competition is the second season of the 18-team league phase format, replacing the old group-stage system.

The 18 clubs were split into three pots of six for the draw, based on their UEFA club coefficients. Each team was then drawn against two opponents from each pot, playing one home and one away. That means every club will play six different opponents, with three matches at home and three away.

Rather than being placed into separate groups, all 18 teams will compete in one league table.

Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat.

At the end of the six matchdays:

1st-4th: Qualify directly for the quarter-finals

5th-12th: Enter the knockout phase play-offs

13th-18th: Eliminated

The teams finishing fifth to 12th will then contest two-legged play-offs, with the winners taking the remaining four quarter-final places.

The final will be played at Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland.

Who are the Women's Champions League favourites?

Barcelona begin their title defence after beating OL Lyonnes 4-0 in the 2026 final in Oslo. They have won the competition four times in the last six editions in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2026.

OL Lyonnes remain the competition's most successful club with eight titles, although their most recent triumph came in 2022. They reached last season's final before losing to Barcelona.

Arsenal are the only English winners, having lifted the trophy twice, most recently in 2025, while Chelsea and Manchester City will also be targeting a deep run in Europe.

Manchester City dominated the WSL last season but were absent from this competition after finishing fourth in the previous campaign. They will be looking to improve on their best-ever Champions League finish, having reached the semi-finals in 2017 and 2018.

Chelsea have come close on several occasions. They were runners-up in 2021 and have reached the semi-finals five other times, but are still waiting to lift the trophy.

How to watch the Women's Champions League

Every match of the 2026/27 Women's Champions League league phase will be available to watch live on Disney+ in the UK.