Manchester City captain Alex Greenwood interview: "We're back where we belong in the Women's Champions League"
Monday, September 21, 2026
Article summary
After a season away, Manchester City are back in the UEFA Women’s Champions League – and few are more excited than captain Alex Greenwood, who tells UEFA she cannot wait to experience European nights with the club once again.
Article top media content
Article body
There is something special about UEFA Women's Champions League nights.
The lights, the atmosphere and the sense of occasion that comes with European football.
Manchester City's Alex Greenwood knows it well and, after a season away from the competition, she cannot wait to experience those European nights once again.
"I love the Women’s Champions League, I love Champions League nights under the lights at the [Manchester City Academy] Stadium," the 2026 Women's Ballon d'Or nominee tells UEFA, as her side prepares to begin their league phase campaign away to Bayern München on Tuesday 22 September.
"I love taking our fans away in Europe; there’s just something special about European nights.
"I’ve missed them so much and I am so excited to have them back."
That excitement comes after a remarkable domestic campaign for Manchester City.
In coach Andrée Jeglertz's first season with the team, City ended Chelsea’s long-standing dominance of the Women’s Super League to claim their first league title in a decade, before adding the FA Cup to complete a memorable domestic double.
As English champions, City have automatically qualified for this season’s Women’s Champions League, a competition Greenwood believes is exactly where they belong.
"To qualify was massively important; it’s an expectation that we have at this football club. But every competition that we play in, we’re there to win.
"We know it’s going to be a challenge but it’s fantastic for the club. We’re going to give it absolutely everything, like we do in every other competition, take it game by game and see how far we can go."
For Greenwood, returning to Europe is about more than simply adding another competition to City's schedule.
It represents a return to a stage she feels has been missing from the club's recent story.
“I do think [my role as leader] is important; experience is important,” says the Man City captain, who had her first taste of Women's Champions League football as a 16-year-old while helping Everton qualify for the 2010/11 edition.
"I’ve played in this competition enough times to know what it presents and what the challenges are."
But there is something else she wants to bring to the occasion: enjoyment.
"I just think it’s bringing a calmness to the team," Greenwood explains. "I also want the girls to enjoy it, because we worked really hard to get back in this competition where I think we belong.
"I’m just excited to embrace the challenge."
Greenwood's Women's Champions League education extends well beyond Manchester.
Her time with OL Lyonnes gave her the experience of playing, and succeeding, at the highest level of European club football by winning the European title in 2019/20.
“My experience at a club like [OL Lyonnes] and having a fantastic Champions League campaign there was important," she says.
Yet Greenwood knows that experience must evolve with the competition itself.
"As the game’s developed and it’s become a lot more competitive, to be consistent winners is also an important tool to have."
And that is the mentality Manchester City will take into Europe.
“Champions League, Women's Super League, whatever competition we’re in, we’re in it with a real elite mindset to go and win, and that’s been our mentality for the last 18 months."
City reached the Women's Champions League quarter-finals two seasons ago, beating Chelsea 2-0 in the first leg before going on to lose 3-2 on aggregate after the second leg in London.
It is a useful reference point, but it is not the destination.
"It’s important because it counts for something, but I’d love to take this club past the quarter-final stage," she says.
"I think it’s a stage we have been stuck at a little bit. I know in previous years the club got to the semi-final, but of course everyone wants to be in a Champions League final.
"It’s the pinnacle, isn’t it?"
Man City's experience of winning the English domestic title last season can now provide another ingredient.
"I also think how our mentality was last year winning the Women's Super League will have a massive part to play in how we approach the season," Greenwood adds.
So what is it about this Manchester City team that can make an impact in Europe?
Greenwood pauses on the qualities she believes define the group.
"I think it has something special. It has a bravery, a resilience and no-fear factor," she says.
"I love that about this team – that’s one of my favourite things about this group. We embrace every challenge that comes our way, and I think we play with excitement."
That excitement is not confined to the players.
"I’m lucky I get to play in it, but I’m so excited to take our fans on this journey with us.
"I’m most looking forward to playing Champions League football at home at the [Manchester City Academy] Stadium,” she says.
"I’ve missed it honestly so much and I cannot wait to have the fans back on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday night here."
After a season in which Manchester City rediscovered their place at the summit of English football, Greenwood is ready to see them back where she believes they belong in Europe.
"I’m just looking forward to the team getting to experience where I think we belong."
* Interview carried out on 9 September 2026
More like this