Meet the Women's Champions League last eight
Friday, November 27, 2015
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The UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final draw has been made and we introduce you to the eight teams aiming to lift the trophy, with names familiar and new.
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Quarter-final draw (23/24 & 30/31 March)
Wolfsburg (GER) v Brescia (ITA)
FFC Frankfurt (GER, holders) v Rosengård (SWE)
Lyon (FRA) v Slavia Praha (CZE)
Barcelona (ESP) v Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Semi-final draw (23/24 April & 30 April/1 May)
1 Lyon or Slavia v Barcelona or Paris
2 Wolfsburg or Brescia v Frankfurt or Rosengård
Final (26 May, Stadio Città del Tricolore, Reggio Emilia)
Winner Semi-final 2 v Winner Semi-final 1
Wolfsburg (GER)
Best performance: winners 2013, 2014
Quarter-final record: W3 L0
Top scorer: Caroline Graham Hansen 2
• Wolfsburg edged Rosengård on away goals in the quarter-finals last season but then succumbed 3-2 on aggregate to Paris in the semis. The 2-0 first-leg home reverse was their first after 24 European games, a run which had yielded two titles.
• Ralf Kellermann is aiming to become the first coach to win this tournament three times.
• Wolfsburg took time to get into their stride this term with new signings Bachmann, Élise Bussaglia, Lara Dickenman and Ewa Pajor among others – but clicked in the round of 16 against Chelsea with 2-1 away and 2-0 home victories versus the English champions.
Brescia (ITA)
Best performance: first quarter-final
Top scorer: Lisa Boattin, Barbara Bonansea, Sara Gama, Daniela Sabatino 1
• Italy could have a home finalist after second-time entrants Brescia ousted Liverpool and 2003 runners-up Fortuna Hjørring to become the first Serie A team to get this far since Verona in 2008/09.
• Having had three 1-0 wins this term, Brescia were heading for extra time at Fortuna in the round of 16 second leg when Boattin, 18, struck a last-minute goal to send them through 2-1 on aggregate. They have since signed another teenager, adding England Under-23 defender Paige Williams from Everton on Thursday.
• Coach Milena Bertolini was only the second Italian woman after Carolina Morace to gain a Pro licence.
FFC Frankfurt (GER, holders)
Best performance: winners 2002, 2006, 2008, 2015
Quarter-final record: W7 L2
Top scorer: Kerstin Garefrekes 3
• Frankfurt hold the record for most titles (4), most finals (6) and most semi-finals (7, joint with Umeå).
• Having lost the competition's first penalty shoot-out to Umeå in the 2003 semis, Frankfurt won the sixth to get past LSK Kvinner in this season's round of 16 after losing the home second leg 2-0.
• After the retirement of last term's top scorer Célia Šašić and departure of Verónica Boquete, the 2015 final match winner Mandy Islacker has stepped up with a run of goals, notably the opener in the 2-0 first-leg success at LSK and then the decisive penalty in the home shoot-out.
Rosengård (SWE)
Best performance: semi-finals 2004 (as Malmö)
Quarter-final record: W1 L3
Top scorer: Marta 5
• Having lost Mittag to Paris and Ramona Bachmann to Wolfsburg, Rosengård secured Marta on a long-term deal, and her round of 16 hat-trick against Verona took her to 46 goals in the competition. New Canadian forward Josee Belanger has impressed in her maiden European campaign with a round of 32 hat-trick against PK-35 Vantaa and another strike versus Verona. Macedonian attacker Natasha Andonova has also chipped in with goals since her arrival.
• Rosengård changed coach last summer, replacing Markus Tilly with Jack Majgaard Jensen. He works under Therese Sjögran, who was appointed sporting director after her summer playing retirement.
• Under their new coach Rosengård retained the Swedish title, making them the only one of the quarter-finalists to already be sure of their berth in 2016/17.
Lyon (FRA)
Best performance: winners 2011, 2012
Quarter-final record: W6 L0
Top scorer: Ada Hegerberg 8
• Following consecutive round of 16 defeats by Turbine Potsdam and Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon are back in the quarter-finals after a 9-1 aggregate victory over debutants Atlético Madrid.
• Ada Hegerberg has scored two goals in all four of Lyon's European matches this campaign.
• Lyon have won more games (four, equal with Rosengård), scored more goals (18) and conceded fewer (one, equal with Brescia, Paris and Wolfsburg) than any other club in the last eight.
Slavia Praha (CZE)
Best performance: first quarter-final
Top scorer: Petra Divišová 3
• Before this campaign Slavia had never got past a round of European competition, going out in groups in 2003/04 and 2004/05 and in the round of 32 to Barcelona last term.
• They put that right this time, eliminating last season's semi-finalists Brøndby in the round of 32, then 2009 runners-up Zvezda-2005 in the last 16, both after eye-catching home first-leg wins at Eden Stadium.
• Slavia are the second Czech team to contest the quarter-finals after Sparta Praha in 2005/06.
Barcelona (ESP)
Best performance: quarter-final 2014, 2016
Quarter-final record: W0 L1
Top scorers: Olga García, Jenni Hermoso 2
• This is their fourth European campaign but first as a full-time professional team.
• In 2013/14 they reached the quarter-finals but lost 5-0 on aggregate to Wolfsburg. In 2012/13 and 2014/15 English sides Arsenal and Bristol Academy knocked them out.
• They eliminated BIIK-Kazygurt and Twente on the way to the quarter-finals, in the round of 16 attracting a record European crowd of 3,219 to the Mini Estadi.
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Best performance: runners-up 2015
Quarter-final record: W1 L0
Top scorer: Cristiane 5
• Beaten by a last-minute Islacker goal in the 2015 final with Frankfurt, Paris have since recruited Brazil duo Erika and Cristiane (their current European top scorer), Sweden midfielder Lisa Dahlqvist and Germany forward Anja Mittag, all of who have been ever-present in Europe so far.
• Mittag's three goals this season make her the all-time leading scorer in UEFA women's club competition on 49, one ahead of former Germany and Potsdam colleague Conny Pohlers.
• Paris overcame Örebro on away goals to make the last eight, drawing 1-1 away and 0-0 at home, though in the second leg they had 28 attempts on goal to their opponents' none.