Women's Champions League semi-finals: Wolfsburg vs Arsenal, Chelsea vs Barcelona

The UEFA Women's Champions League semi-finals are set and two big ties now lie in prospect for April.

We take a look at the contests which will decide who faces off in the final in Eindhoven on 3 June.

Four things to know about the last four

• All four teams have previously reached the final and only Chelsea are yet to win the title. Including this season, the four clubs have between them have reached 25 semi-finals.
• Since Arsenal were last at this stage (in 2012/13, losing to debutants Wolfsburg), Barcelona and Chelsea have reached all of their semi-finals, and Wolfsburg all but their first.
• One city boasts two teams in the semi-finals for the first time, although two clubs from both London (Arsenal and Chelsea) and Paris (Paris Saint-Germain and Juvisy, now Paris FC) have individually reached the semis in previous seasons.
• France has no semi-finalist for only the second time since Lyon's debut campaign of 2007/08. In that season, 2013/14, Wolfsburg went on to win, but none of the other semi-finalists (Birmingham City, Turbine Potsdam and runners-up Tyresö) have been in the competition since.

Can Chelsea turn the tables on Barcelona?

The 2021 final in Gothenburg, played behind closed doors, had the feeling of a watershed moment for the competition. Between them, Barcelona and Chelsea had only appeared in one final before, and that did not go well for the Blaugrana, who trailed Lyon by four goals at half-time two years earlier.

This time, Barça were four up at the break themselves, and their 4-0 defeat of the Blues not only meant they clinched the trophy to end Lyon's five-year reign, but it also suggested they were emerging as the continent's supreme force.

Lyon of course dethroned Barcelona last year in Turin, but their own title defence was ended in an extraordinary quarter-final by Chelsea, who looked to be heading out at Stamford Bridge before Maren Mjelde's last-gasp penalty in extra time and their subsequent shoot-out victory.

Meanwhile, Barcelona's 29 group stage goals and serene progress past Roma in the last eight have underlined their status, and another massive crowd at the Camp Nou for the second leg will be expecting to cheer them to a fourth final in five years.

Chelsea will have other ideas, and will be hoping this semi-final can serve as a response to what happened two years ago in Gothenburg, just as that dominant final performance allowed Barcelona to exorcise the ghosts of Budapest 2019.

Lyon can vouch for the fact that Chelsea do not just boast thrilling attacking talents like Sam Kerr and Lauren James but also possess a grit and will to drag themselves to victory. Those qualities could yet allow them to join their fellow semi-finalists on the roll of honour.

Wolfsburg and Arsenal matched again

Arsenal first reached a European semi-final in 2002/03, the second edition of the UEFA Women's Cup and the season before VfR Eintracht Wolfsburg were taken over by VfL Wolfsburg. A decade later, Wolfsburg knocked out the 2006/07 winners in the Gunners' sixth and – until this year – most recent semi-final, as the German club went on to claim the first of two consecutive titles in their debut European appearances.

Wolfsburg are now in the last four for the eighth time in the 11 seasons since their debut, while Arsenal, having found themselves eclipsed domestically by Chelsea and Manchester City, have succeeded in working their way back to the European elite.

The Gunners earned their place thanks to their spirited elimination of Bayern München in the previous round, overturning a first-leg deficit and showing an attacking vim they have been gradually recapturing since the twin blows of season-ending injuries for Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema. Kim Little was ruled out for the season after going off against Bayern, however, and Leah Williamson – taking over both the captaincy and the central midfield role from her colleague – also suffered serious injury in the loss at Manchester United on Wednesday.

That victory against Bayern was a rare success for Arsenal against German opposition, the English hopefuls having long struggled against Frauen-Bundesliga teams – a point underlined when they succumbed to Wolfsburg in last season's quarter-finals, just as they had finished second best to the She-Wolves in the 2012/13 semi-finals.

Wolfsburg themselves got the better of Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight, with the decisive goal scored by Alex Popp, who also lined up against Arsenal a decade ago. She will hope to be fit after her recent injury on international duty, and would no doubt fancy a celebration in London after a warm-up knock cruelly ruled her out of Germany's loss to England in the UEFA Women's EURO 2022 final at Wembley.