How the women's quarter-finalists ended the year

Road to the final

• Quarter-finals (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-finals (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

Germany: Wolfsburg, Frankfurt
Bayern München may have made a surprise round of 32 exit to Twente in Europe but the reigning champions are dominating the Frauen-Bundesliga, unbeaten and sitting 12 points clear of Wolfsburg and Frankfurt at the winter break. Since going out to Twente they have won nine games in a row, beating Frankfurt in league and German Cup; on Sunday they triumphed 2-0 at Turbine Potsdam, who sit an unaccustomed eighth but are only six points off second.

Wolfsburg have stumbled of late, their 2-1 home loss to Jena on Saturday their second reverse in three league games. However, Frankfurt – under caretaker coach Matt Ross following Colin Bell's departure – had gone down 3-2 at Essen the previous night so still trail Wolfsburg on goal difference in the race for Germany's second guaranteed European place. The season resumes in mid-February.

©Jacopo Beccalossi

Italy: Brescia
Brescia are down in third, five points adrift of leaders Verona and two behind Mozzanica. The reason for that was a 3-3 home draw and 4-0 loss at Mozzanica in consecutive games in November, the only points Brescia have dropped. Since then Brescia have beaten Südtirol Damen Bolzano 6-0, Sab Zaccaria 7-0 and Res Roma 1-0, and return to action on 9 January with the crucial trip to Verona.

France: Lyon, Paris
Lyon are on course for a tenth straight title and ended 2015 with a 10-0 win at bottom side Nîmes Metropole on Sunday; Ada Hegerberg scored twice to take her season's tally to 30 in 16 competitive games. However, they are only two points ahead of Montpellier, who held Lyon to a 0-0 draw on 6 December – not bad against a team that have scored 95 goals in their other 16 games, all wins, this season.

Paris have won nine league games in a row since drawing 0-0 at home to Montpellier and losing 5-0 at Lyon, both in September, and are three points behind the leaders. They beat Soyaux 3-0 on Saturday to make it 12 unanswered goals in their last four games of the year.

Spain: Barcelona
The winter break started on 13 December with Barcelona in third, four points behind Athletic Club and one adrift of Atlético Madrid. Still unbeaten, Barcelona have been held by Athletic, Sporting Huelva and Espanyol in their first fully-professional season but their closing 3-0 victory at Real Sociedad allowed them to close the gap on the lead as Atlético become the first of the top three to lose, falling 2-1 at home to Levante and overtaken by Athletic.

©Pavel Jiřík

Czech Republic: Slavia
In their last league game before the winter break on 7 November, Slavia beat Sparta Praha 4-0 to move level at the top with their city rivals. That was followed by their European elimination of Zvezda-2005 Perm and a 12-0 Czech Cup win at Olympia Bruntál. Their domestic cup quarter-final at Brno will be Slavia's first game of 2016 on 14 February, five days before a possible last-four tie at home to Slovácko. In January, Slavia will have a training camp in the Canary Islands and have home friendlies lined up against Jena and Ferencvároš.

Sweden: Rosengård
The only quarter-finalists from a nation with a summer season, Rosengård made it three Damallsvenskan titles in a row in 2015, ensuring their spot in the 2016/17 UEFA Women's Champions League.  With no competitive fixtures until they visit Frankfurt in March, Rosengård are in preparation mode and last week agreed a new three-year deal with coach Jack Majgaard Jensen, who replaced Markus Tilly in the summer. They have also signed American defender Ella Masar, with more arrivals expected in the close season.