UEFA Women's Champions League Matchday 3 Thursday preview

The league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Women's Champions League continues on Thursday, with the second set of Matchday 3 fixtures.

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.

Thursday's key storylines

• Barcelona take the only 100% record to face an HB Køge Women team fresh from their first-ever win at this stage.
• Man City and Paris Saint-Germain test each other's credentials.
• Austria Wien aim for their first win against Juventus.
• Häcken look to get off the mark away to Paris FC.

Where to watch the Women's Champions League

Find out how to follow the Women's Champions League on broadcasts and streams where you are.

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

After losing their league phase opener to Arsenal deep in added time, HB Køge Women ended their eight-game wait for a first win in the competition proper as they saw off Servette 5-1 in Denmark. Barcelona represent a challenge of another order, not least as the holders were the only side entering Matchday 3 on a maximum six points, already having struck 11 goals.

Five years ago, when HB Køge Women 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 Cup 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