What to look out for in the UEFA Women's Champions League on Thursday
Thursday, December 22, 2022
Article summary
First place is at stake in Groups A and B in the last UEFA games of 2022.
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The 2022/23 UEFA Women's Champions League group stage ends on Thursday with Roma and Wolfsburg aiming for Group B first place before Chelsea play Paris Saint-Germain for top spot in Group A.
Thursday 22 December:
Group A
Real Madrid vs Vllaznia (21:00), Chelsea vs Paris (21:00)
Group B
St. Pölten vs Wolfsburg (18:45), Slavia Praha vs Roma (18:45)
All times CET
Wednesday 21 December:
Group C
Zürich 1-9 Arsenal, Lyon 0-0 Juventus
Paris aim to pip Chelsea
No more quarter-final places are now on offer with Lyon having held off Juventus on Wednesday to join Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern, Chelsea, Paris, Roma and Wolfsburg. But in both Thursday groups, first place and seeding in the 10 February draw is at stake. And in Group A the two qualifiers go head-to-head in the shape of past runners-up Chelsea and Paris at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea won 1-0 at Paris and have a much better goal difference, so the visitors will need to prevail by two goals or more if they are to finish ahead of the English champions. However, Paris can take heart from Chelsea's only previous European game at their men's stadium, a round of 32 first leg in 2016/17 which Wolfsburg won 3-0.
Perhaps there will be drama to match Chelsea and Paris's 2018/19 quarter-final, when the Blues won 2-0 at home but then saw their lead wiped out in France – only for Maren Mjelde to strike for Emma Hayes' side in added time.
Wolfsburg hold edge
Wolfsburg missed the chance to wrap up Group B with a game to spare last week but they have a second opportunity on Thursday – provided they win at St. Pölten. If they do not, Roma can make this debut campaign even more memorable by overtaking the two-time champions with victory at Slavia.
When are the Women's Champions League knockout fixtures and draw?
Quarter-final & semi-final draw
13:00 CET, 10 February, Nyon
Quarter-finals
First leg: 21/22 March
Second leg: 29/30 March
Semi-finals
First leg: 22/23 April
Second leg: 29/30 April
Final (PSV Stadion, Eindhoven)
Saturday 3 June (18:00 CET)
Briefing notes
• In the quarter-finals, the four group winners will be drawn against the four runners-up, with the second-placed teams at home in the first legs. The only restriction will be that teams cannot face clubs they played in the group stage. The potential semi-final ties will also be set on 10 February, along with the technical designation of the 'home' side for the Eindhoven decider.
Where is the 2023 UEFA Women's Champions League final being played?
Eindhoven's PSV Stadium will stage the 2023 UEFA Women's Champions League final at 18:00 CET on Saturday 3 June.
First opened in 1910, the 35,000-capacity PSV Stadium has a long history of hosting major matches, including the UEFA Cup finals of 1978 (second leg) and 2006, the second leg of the 1988 UEFA Super Cup and three games at UEFA EURO 2000.
On 6 April 2018, 30,238 fans at the home of PSV Eindhoven watched the Netherlands beat Northern Ireland on the way to the FIFA Women's World Cup, a record crowd for any UEFA-organised women's qualifier. On 1 June 2019, a then Dutch record women's football attendance of 30,640 saw the Netherlands face Australia in a friendly at the stadium.
