The Women’s Champions League campaign will come to a dramatic conclusion on Wednesday night, but much remains to be decided, including whether an All England play-off double-header will be held in February.
All three England teams – Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal – are guaranteed a place in the knockout stages, but the new format means there is a very real possibility that the two teams will play each other for a place in the quarter-finals.
If the league were to end today, there would be a play-off between Arsenal and Manchester United. Of course, there are plenty of possibilities for things to change over the nine games that kick off at the same time on Wednesday night. But there are eight possible combinations in which they, or Chelsea, could face another English club in the play-off round.
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Highlights of the WSL match between Brighton and Chelsea.
Only four teams automatically qualify for the last eight, with unbeaten Chelsea currently in third place in the table, just one point behind the chasing pack.
Wolfsburg have already beaten Man Utd 5-2 in this season’s tournament, and while one point may be enough given the overwhelming goal difference over their rivals, a win would guarantee them a place in the league. Even in the worst-case scenario, the lowest possible league finish would be eighth place, the last of the seeded teams in the playoffs.
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Highlights of the WSL match between Everton and Arsenal.
That position is currently occupied by Arsenal, who will face the bottom of the competition, OH Leuven, in their final match. That being said, Europe’s small-time teams have only lost one of their last five games. The Gunners need to pick up points against at least four of the teams above them, so they automatically have to win to keep any glimmer of hope alive.
They are ahead of Man United in 9th place on goal difference. Mark Skinner’s side face much the same challenge, but they need to get past the Gunners to automatically qualify, and to do that they must overturn back-to-back defeats against Wolfsburg and Lyon.
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Highlights of the Women’s Super League match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
They have performed well in this season’s tournaments, holding off Lyon, but narrowly losing to Bayern Munich, before heading to Italy to face Juventus, who are currently in fourth place. If any of the WSL trio fails to finish in the top four, their priority will be to finish as high as possible in the play-off spots to give themselves a better shot at the finals.
Realistically, anything short of a win may not be enough for United and Arsenal to enter the top half of the play-offs as one of the seeded teams.
Who will play who in the playoff round?
Teams will play a two-game playoff in the following brackets, with the top team playing the second game at home.
5th place team vs 12th place team 6th place team vs 11th place team 7th place team vs 10th place team 8th place team vs 9th place team
What will be the schedule for the remaining tournaments?
February 11-12: Playoffs first leg February 18-19: Playoffs second leg March 24-25: Quarter-final first leg April 1-2: Quarter-final second leg April 25-26: Semi-final first leg May 2-3: Semi-final first leg May 24: Final
