Women's Champions League knockout phase play-off second leg: Arsenal vs OH Leuven facts
Friday, February 13, 2026
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Holders Arsenal take a commanding lead into the second leg of their UEFA Women's Champions League knockout phase play-off tie with OH Leuven.
Last match
The two sides also met on Matchday 6 with Smith (18) and Beth Mead (27) scoring in Arsenal's 3-0 victory in Leuven on 17 December, the scoring completed by Saar Janssen's 68th-minute own goal.
Arsenal had played one previous match against Belgian opposition, Jayne Ludlow scoring a hat-trick in a 7-0 victory against Eendracht Aalst during the 2002/03 UEFA Women's Cup group stage.
The Gunners have therefore won all three of their contests with Belgian sides by an aggregate score of 14-0.
The Matchday 6 contest between the two sides marked OH Leuven's first fixture against an English club.
Arsenal lifted the Women's Champions League trophy last season after Stina Blackstenius scored the only goal of the game in their defeat of holders Barcelona in Lisbon. It was their second European title after overcoming Umeå in a two-legged final in 2006/07. They are the only English side to reach two European finals.
This is the Londoners' 18th participation in the Women's Champions League; they topped Group C last season ahead of Bayern, Juventus and Vålerenga and defeated Real Madrid 3-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals (0-2 a, 3-0 h) before a semi-final comeback victory against OL Lyonnes (2-1 h, 4-1 a) and that final defeat of Barcelona.
Arsenal are therefore in the knockout phase for the second season in a row and the 17th overall.
OH Leuven are making their debut in European competition this season after winning their first Belgian Women's Super League title in 2024/25.
Beginning in the second qualifying round in August, the Belgian side beat SFK 2000 Sarajevo (2-1 aet) and Rosengård (3-2) to reach the third qualifying round, where they overcame Vorskla Poltava 2-0 on aggregate (2-0 a, 0-0 h).
Already the first club from Belgium to appear in the league phase/group stage this season, OH Leuven are now the first Belgian side to contest a knockout tie (excluding qualifying) since Anderlecht, who lost 1-3 on aggregate to BIIK Shymkent in the 2019/20 round of 32.
Key stats
Arsenal have won four successive Women's Champions League matches, keeping clean sheets in the last three.
The Gunners have won nine of their last 11 home Women's Champions League games (L2), including victories over Real Madrid (2-1) and Twente (1-0) in this season's league phase. They went down 1-2 against OL Lyonnes on Matchday 1.
Arsenal have won the second leg in eight of their last ten European ties (L2).
The English side have won the first leg of a European tie on 17 occasions and have progressed 16 times. The only exception came in the 2008/09 UEFA Women's Cup quarter-finals, when they won 3-2 at home against Umeå but subsequently went down 6-0 in Sweden.
Olivia Smith's goal in the first leg means the Arsenal forward has scored in successive matches against OH Leuven, having also found the net against the Belgian side on Matchday 6.
OH Leuven are trying to be only the second Belgian club to make it through to the quarter-finals after FCL Rapide Wezemaal in 2007/08.
The Belgian side will need to score four or more goals in a Women's Champions League match for the first time. The most they have managed during their debut campaign is three, in the 3-2 win against Rosengård in the second qualifying round final.