Women's Champions League semi-finals: What to look out for in the first legs

Three former winners and one team looking to reach their first UEFA Women's Champions League final will contest the upcoming semi-finals, held across two weekends at the end of April and start of May.

Defending champions Arsenal have been drawn against eight-time winners OL Lyonnes in the last four for a second season running, while Barcelona chase a spot in a sixth consecutive final against a Bayern side who have never made it past this stage.

Bayern München vs Barcelona

Barcelona and Bayern opened their campaigns against each other and now meet again in the semi-finalsGetty Images

These sides meet for the second time this season, after Barcelona's emphatic 7-1 victory made a statement on the opening night of the league phase. Bayern bounced back from that loss by winning six and drawing one of their seven fixtures since, including eliminating Manchester United by a 5-3 aggregate scoreline in the last eight to reach their third semi-final. Pernille Harder is their top scorer on seven goals and has a history of delivering in semi-finals, having found the net for Wolfsburg against Chelsea in 2017/18 and then for Chelsea against Bayern in 2020/21.

Last season's runners-up Barcelona have appeared in all but one of the last seven finals and are fresh from a convincing 12-2 aggregate success in their quarter-final against Real Madrid. The Spanish side finished top of the league phase table and are this season's leading scorers on 32 goals — ten more than any other club — while they have also conceded the fewest with five. Like Harder, Barcelona's Ewa Pajor is on seven goals this campaign, while her team-mate Alexia Putellas has the most goal involvements of any player with seven assists and five goals of her own.

Key stats: 
• Bayern have lost only one of their last 16 Women’s Champions League home matches (W12 D3), including winning all four games as hosts this season.
• Barcelona are appearing in a record eighth consecutive Women’s Champions League semi-final.
• The hosts have won their last two UEFA competition home matches against Spanish teams.
• The visitors have progressed from their last 19 two-legged ties in the competition.

Arsenal vs OL Lyonnes

Arsenal and OL Lyonnes meet for a second consecutive season in the Women's Champions League semi-finalsAnadolu via Getty Images

These sides also reunite following a Matchday 1 meeting, in which OL Lyonnes came from behind to beat the titleholders. But it was the Gunners who performed a successful comeback at this stage of last season's competition, when they turned around a 2-1 first-leg deficit by winning 4-1 in Décines the following week.

The defending champions had a mixed league phase, also losing to Bayern, and finished outside the automatic quarter-final qualifications spots; but comfortably defeated OH Leuven in the knockout phase play-offs and knocked out their London rivals Chelsea in the last eight. OL Lyonnes, meanwhile, were unbeaten until the first leg of their quarter-final against Wolfsburg, but eventually prevailed after extra time in the return.

Arsenal's Alessia Russo has followed up her successful 2025 with England and Arsenal by leading the scorer rankings on eight goals, while last season's Women's Champions League Young Player of the Season Melchie Dumornay has found the net five times for OL Lyonnes. The Haiti international has a habit of scoring on visits to Arsenal — finding the net twice at Meadow Park earlier this season and once in their 2025/26 semi-final first leg.

Key stats:
• This is the 11th time these teams have met in UEFA competition, with OL Lyonnes winning seven of the previous fixtures and Arsenal two. One was a draw.
• This is a 15th UEFA competition semi-final for OL Lyonnes and a ninth for Arsenal.
• Melchie Dumornay has scored in both legs of OL Lyonnes’ semi-finals in each of the last two seasons: against Paris Saint Germain in 2023/24 and Arsenal in 2024/25. Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey also scored in both legs of last season's last-four tie.
• The visitors have been victorious on all five of their previous visits to Arsenal.