Manchester City vs Chelsea Women's Champions League preview: Where to watch, possible line-ups

Manchester City and Chelsea meet in their UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday 19 March at Manchester City Academy Stadium.

What do you need to know?

This tie comes in a run of four consecutive games between the pair as they first met on Saturday in the English Women's League Cup final in Derby – Chelsea winning 2-1 for their first trophy under Sonia Bompastor – and they will face each other again next Sunday in Manchester in the Women's Super League.

They are the first four games back at the helm for Man City interim head coach Nick Cushing, appointed last Monday after the departure of Gareth Taylor, having previously been in charge from 2013 to 2020. Among other successes, Cushing led the club to two Champions League semi-finals.

In their first meeting with Man City this season in November, Chelsea won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, scoring both goals in the last 15 minutes, and they subsequently began to open up a gap over their rivals (whom they only pipped to the title last season on goal difference).

In January, Chelsea signed England midfielder Keira Walsh, who was a key part of City's rise to prominence in her eight years there before moving to Barcelona in 2022 along with Lucy Bronze, who signed for the Blues last summer.

Chelsea's other winter signing of United States defender Naomi Girma further underlined their ambition in Sonia Bompastor's first season at the helm, though she is out injured along with Guro Reiten, while Sam Kerr is still on her way back from a long-term absence (though Walsh does travel after missing the last three games).

City's own additions, including Brazil forward Kerolin, emphasise the depth of a club who began their campaign by beating Barcelona 2-0. However, on top of the current injuries to Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp, Cushing said on Tuesday that both Khadija Shaw and Aoba Fujino are also out after picking up knocks on Saturday.

Form guide

Man City
Last six games: LWDWWW
Last match: Chelsea 2-1 Man City, 15/03, Women's League Cup final
Where they stand: 4th in Women's Super League, Women's FA Cup semi-finals, Women's League Cup runners-up

Chelsea
Last six games: WWWDWW
Last match: Chelsea 2-1 Man City, 15/03, Women's League Cup final
Where they stand: 1st in Women's Super League, Women's FA Cup semi-finals, Women's League Cup winners

Possible starting line-ups

Man City: Yamashita; Casparij, Prior, Aleixandri, Ouahabi; Roord, Miedema, Hasegawa; Park, Kerolin, Fowler

Chelsea: Hampton; Bronze, Björn, Bright, Baltimore; Nüsken, Cuthbert; James, Macario, Rytting Kaneryd; Ramírez

View from the camps

Nick Cushing, Man City interim coach: "It's a Champions League quarter-final and our home leg. We have to play the game to win.

“[Shaw and Fujino] are two significant players that are missing, [but] these moments give opportunities for other players. Both of them are muscle injuries. It's going to take a few days to diagnose how long. I think they're significant but will leave it with the medical team."

Kerolin, Man City forward: "I'm really happy and excited; it's kind of like a dream. But I need to be really focused on how to help the team. Now is the time to make history. We're ready for that and will try to do our best.

"It's not going to be easy, but we're ready and we will try our best to win. But now we're at home and it will be special."

Sonia Bompastor, Chelsea coach: "It's a different competition [to the League Cup final], and the context is different with two legs, but our mindset remains the same. We will attack the game and make sure we put all the elements into the game to have a big chance to win.

"I'm lucky to have a really good squad with talent, quality and depth. So it's important for me to involve everyone in these four games [against City], especially because at some point we will need to have some freshness. That will be important."

Millie Bright, Chelsea defender: "There was barely zero celebrations [on Saturday]. Everyone was tucked in bed by 9:30pm. I was, definitely – I was flat out! We have our eyes set on big targets this year. Winning trophies is not something we shy away from in terms of saying it out loud.

"Any game we play in, the mentality is to win, to be the best, and it's all about getting to that end goal. I think, with us this year, our mentality's tightened up a little bit, if I'm being honest. I didn't think it could go to a next level, but it has done."

Where is the 2025 UEFA Women's Champions League final being played?

Getty Images

Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon will stage the 2025 UEFA Women's Champions League final on Saturday 24 May.

The home of Sporting CP opened in 2003 ahead of UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal, replacing another stadium of the same name. It hosted a semi-final of that tournament, among other games, and was the venue for the UEFA Cup decider the following year.

The 2025 final will be the second Women's Champions League showpiece to be held in Lisbon after 2014, when Estádio do Restelo staged Wolfsburg's 4-3 win against Tyresö.