UEFA Women's Champions League Matchday 3 preview: Bayern-Real Madrid, OL Lyonnes-Inter, Arsenal-Benfica, HB Køge Women-Barcelona, Manchester City-Paris Saint-Germain

The league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Women's Champions League continues on Wednesday and Thursday with the third set of matches.

We preview the action and highlight the key storylines and players to look out for, including Barcelona seeking to maintain the only perfect record and the chasing pack attempting to keep pace.

The 18 teams compete over six league phase matchdays, with the top four progressing directly to the quarter-finals and the sides finishing between fifth and 12th advancing to February's knockout phase play-offs.

Matchday 3 key storylines

• Barcelona take only 100% record to HB Køge Women team fresh from first-ever win at this stage.
• Unbeaten sides collide as OL Lyonnes play Inter and Bayern welcome Real Madrid.
• Wednesday's London double-header as Chelsea host Roma and Arsenal play Benfica, rematches of games both English clubs won last season.
• Man City and Paris SG test each other's credentials.
• Austria Wien aim for first win against Juventus.
• Servette and Häcken look to get off the mark at home to OH Leuven and away to Paris FC respectively.

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Wednesday's match in focus: Arsenal vs Benfica

Two-time champions Arsenal have been in mixed form early in the season, but are still on four points in the league phase after a last-gasp win against HB Køge Women followed by seeing a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw at Paris FC. In any case, slow starts did not stop Arsenal claiming the title in 2024/25, or making the semis last term despite only having three points at the halfway stage of the league phase (from a 2-0 Matchday 2 win at Benfica).

Benfica were to be eliminated with just two points, yet have already surpassed that tally this time with their opening 2-1 win at Juventus courtesy of a Marit Bratberg Lund double. Benfica then lost 3-0 at home to Bayern but now face an Arsenal team that this season have surprisingly struggled to break down opponents and are currently without their penalty-scoring hero at Meadow Park against HB Køge, Mariona Caldentey, as well as summer arrival Selina Cerci.

Thursday's match in focus: HB Køge Women vs Barcelona

After losing their league phase opener to Arsenal deep in added time, HB Køge ended their eight-game wait for a first win in the competition proper as they saw off Servette 5-1 in Denmark. Of course, Barcelona represent a challenge of another order, not least as the holders are the only side entering Matchday 3 on a maximum six points, already having struck 11 goals with Caroline Graham Hansen and Ewa Pajor among the joint competition top scorers on three.

Five years ago, when HB Køge made the inaugural group stage, they lost twice to Barcelona, though at home the result was only 2-0, the only time before the 2021/22 semi-finals that any team had stopped the Blaugrana scoring at least three. And the enthusiastic reaction of the Swans' players to being drawn at home to Barcelona, as recorded by the club's social media, shows their ambition to demonstrate how far they have come in the five years since these teams last met.

Player in focus: Naomie Feller, Paris Saint-Germain

Paris SG have already bettered their disappointing two-point total from last term, and emphatically so thanks to a 5-0 defeat of OH Leuven on Matchday 2. That victory was inspired by Player of the Match Feller, who got two goals and a pair of assists, the UEFA Technical Observer Group praising her "speed and acceleration to beat defenders in one-on-one situations and make incisive, direct runs into dangerous spaces and towards goal".

That is a succinct summary of Feller's strengths, evident back when she helped inspire France to the 2019 UEFA Women's Under-19 EURO title. She had a spell on loan at OL Lyonnes the following year from Reims, before leaving the latter to join Real Madrid in 2022. If injury setbacks slowed Feller's progress in Madrid, she still became a versatile part of their attack.

This summer Paris SG brought her back to her home town on a four-year deal, identifying the 24-year-old as a key to turning their fortunes. Feller will want to keep that up on Thursday at Man City, an opponent she helped Madrid to eliminate in 2022/23 qualifying in one of her first games for the Spanish club.

Feller's next fixture: Manchester City vs Paris Saint-Germain (Thursday)

One to watch: Aivi Luik, Häcken

Plenty of young players are impressing this season, but so is someone who made their competition debut in 2008. Last term Luik became the first player in her 40s to feature in (and win) a UEFA women's club final, as Häcken claimed the inaugural UEFA Women's Europa League title, and now the defender has set a similar record for the Women's Champions League group stage/league phase.

At 41, Luik's career has taken her from her native Australia to the United States, Ukraine, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Spain, Italy and (for the second time) Sweden. An experienced head in a young Häcken squad that are well-placed to retain their Damallsvenskan title, Luik will try to help them get off the mark in the league phase as they visit Paris FC; when asked by UEFA about her history-making feat at Inter on Matchday 1, Luik said: The secret is coffee and chocolate."

Luik's next fixture: Paris FC vs Häcken (Thursday)

Häcken's Aivi Luik (right) making history on Matchday 1 at InterGetty Images

See how the league table stands