Manchester City vs Chelsea facts

Manchester City and Chelsea meet in the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time in the opening leg of their quarter-final tie in Manchester.

Chelsea were one of only two teams – along with Lyon – who won all six of their group games, while Manchester City were second behind holders Barcelona in Group D, winning five of their six matches.

The Matchday 7 meeting is in a sequence of four consecutive matches between the two clubs. Mayra Ramírez and, after Aoba Fujino had levelled for City, a late Yui Hasegawa own goal gave Chelsea a 2-1 win in the Women's League Cup final on 15 March; they also meet in Manchester in the Women's Super League eight days later.

Their first meeting this season was a 2-0 league win for Chelsea in November, with Mayra Ramírez and Guro Reiten on the scoresheet in London.

Form guide

Manchester City

This is City's first European tie against a team from their own country.

A team managed by Gareth Taylor won home and away against both St. Pölten (3-2 a, 2-0 h) and Hammarby (2-0 h, 2-1 a) in the group stage and also beat Barcelona 2-0 in Manchester, losing 0-3 away.

Khadija Shaw was City's top scorer in the group stage with three goals.

Having lost in the early rounds in 2021/22 and 2022/23, and not featured at all in 2023/24, City participated in the group stage for the first time this season.

The English club reached the Champions League semi-finals on their first two entries, losing to eventual champions Lyon on both occasions – 2-3 in 2016/17 (1-3 h, 1-0 a) and 0-1 in 2017/18 (0-0 h, 0-1 a).

This will be their fourth quarter-final in the competition, having defeated Fortuna in 2016/17 (1-0 a, 1-0 h) and Linköping in 2017/18 (2-0 h, 5-3 a) before defeat against champions Barcelona in 2020/21 (0-3 a, 2-1 h).

They began this season's European campaign with an 8-0 aggregate defeat of Paris FC in round 2. Taylor's team were 5-0 first-leg victors in Paris on 18 September, Jess Park (38, 58) scoring twice alongside goals from Vivianne Miedema (36), Mary Fowler (49) and Chloe Kelly (79). Kelly (2) opened the scoring in the second leg in Manchester, before a Shaw double (31, 65pen) sealed a 3-0 win.

City have won 13 of their 15 home games in all competitions this season (L2), and won all four Champions League games in Manchester without conceding.

City missed out on the Women's Super League title on goal difference to Chelsea last season despite winning 18 of their 22 league games (D1 L3).

The Manchester club parted company with coach Taylor on 10 March, Nick Cushing – who was in charge between 2013 and 2020 – returning on an interim basis until the end of the season.

Chelsea

Like City, this is the first time Chelsea have faced English opponents in Europe.

The Blues scored 19 goals in their six Group B wins this season, beating Real Madrid (3-2 h, 2-1 a), Twente (3-1 a, 6-1 h) and Celtic (2-1 a, 3-0 h). They had 12 different scorers.

Catarina Macario struck three times during the group stage, while five other players – Reiten, Ramírez, Sjoeke Nüsken, Maika Hamano and Eve Perisset – were on target twice.

Chelsea were Women's Champions League runners-up in 2021, losing 4-0 to Barcelona in the Gothenburg final.

The same opponents eliminated Chelsea at the semi-final stage in the last two editions of the Women's Champions League, 1-2 the aggregate score on both occasions.

Chelsea have reached the last four or better in five of the previous seven seasons.

They have never lost at the quarter-final stage; this is their sixth appearance in the last eight. They defeated Montpellier in 2017/18 (2-0 a, 3-1 h), Paris Saint-Germain in 2018/19 (2-0 h, 1-2 a), Wolfsburg in 2020/21 (2-1 h, 3-0 a), Lyon in 2022/23 and Ajax in 2023/24 (3-0 a, 1-1 h).

Sonia Bompastor's side are unbeaten away from home this season (W9 D2), and scored seven goals in their three Champions League away victories.

Last season the Blues claimed the Women's Super League title for the fifth season in succession and seventh overall. They won the title on goal difference after finishing level on points with Manchester City.

Key facts

• The only previous Women's Champions League matches between English teams came in the 2013/14 quarter-finals when Birmingham City defeated Arsenal 3-0 on aggregate.

• Manchester City have lost only three of their previous 19 home European matches (W14 D2), keeping 13 clean sheets.

• City have won their home leg in each of their previous three quarter-finals.

• Chelsea have lost only one of their last 17 Champions League matches (W12 D4).

• The Blues have won their last seven away European games.

• Chelsea are unbeaten in 13 away Champions League fixtures (W10 D3), since a 0-4 group stage defeat at Wolfsburg in December 2021.