UEFA Women's Europa Cup round of 16 begins Wednesday: Preview

The UEFA Women's Europa Cup round of 16 starts on Wednesday as the road to the second two-legged final continues.

All of the contenders came through September's second qualifying round, including last season's inaugural runners-up Hammarby, former European champions Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg, and four teams in their debut UEFA competition campaigns: Fenerbahçe, Feyenoord, Malmö and Torreense. As well as Hammarby, two more of last term's semi-finalists are involved in Frankfurt and Sparta Praha.

We pinpoint four key themes to watch out for in the round of 16.

Nordic challenge strong again

Last season's inaugural edition had a Nordic flavour reminiscent of the early years of the former UEFA Women's Cup, as Swedish pair Häcken and Hammarby contested the final, along with Iceland's Breidablik and Denmark's Nordsjælland featuring in the quarters. Hammarby, who lost that final, are back again with ambitions to go one better and face Slovakia's Spartak Myjava – and the Stockholm team are not alone in leading the Scandinavian challenge.

Malmö, in their debut European season, take on Ajax, who fell in this round to Hammarby a year ago (the winners of Ajax vs Malmö will play Hammarby or Spartak Myjava in the quarter-finals). Rosenborg are up against Brøndby while Brann, ambitious to match their UEFA Women's Champions League heroics from three seasons ago and currently in a thrilling Toppserien title race, tackle Czarni Sosnowiec. Will Häcken's successors as champions be relative neighbours?

Tie to watch: Ajax vs Malmö

German duo aim to make history

While the inaugural Europa Cup final was an all-Swedish affair, the first one-nation decider in a UEFA women's club competition involved German teams when FFC Frankfurt defeated Turbine Potsdam to win the 2005/06 UEFA Women's Cup. And the prospect of the now Eintracht Frankfurt taking on Frauen Bundesliga rivals over two legs in May is a real one, as they and Wolfsburg have the two highest coefficients of the last 16 and thus are on opposite sides of the draw.

Four-time European champions Frankfurt, who made the Europa Cup semi-finals last spring before losing to Häcken, encounter the same opponents they beat in the round of 16 a year ago, PSV Eindhoven. Meanwhile Wolfsburg, Champions League quarter-finalists in their bid for a third title last season but dramatically ousted in qualifying by Inter this term, are also pitted with Dutch opposition in Feyenoord; the Netherlands are the first country to have three teams in the Europa Cup round of 16 and could collectively have dreams of dominating if they can upset the German challenge.

Tie to watch: PSV Eindhoven vs Eintracht Frankfurt

New forces hope to shine

Feyenoord are among four European debutants taking part in the round of 16, along with Fenerbahçe, Malmö and Torreense. The Portuguese side are matched with 2025/26 semi-finalists Sparta Praha, whose exploits underlined the opportunity this new competition gives to clubs from countries that have not had teams in the latter stages of recent Champions League campaigns.

Fenerbahçe, meanwhile, have a fascinating tie with Real Sociedad, a club who in only their second European season gave Chelsea an early scare in Champions League qualifying and who earlier this month ended Barcelona's 48-game unbeaten run (their previous defeat also coming in San Sebastian just under a year before). Additionally, Hammarby's opponents Spartak Myjava have already made history as the first Slovakian side to play in the last 16 of a UEFA women's club competition.

Tie to watch: Real Sociedad vs Fenerbahçe

Miłek chases goal mark

Like Real Sociedad, Spartak Myjava and the four debutants, Poland's Czarni Sosnowiec are into the last 16 of a UEFA women's competition for the first time, having earlier this season become the only team under the current Women's Champions League format to go from first to third qualifying round. And Czarni striker Klaudia Miłek is chasing some history of her own. Miłek got seven goals in Champions League qualifying, including four against WFC Nike. Then, following Czarni's transfer to the Europa Cup, Miłek managed four in a game again as they knocked out last season's quarter-finalists Breidalik.

Her combined 11-goal tally is within four of the single-season UEFA women's competition record set by Ada Hegerberg in the 2017/18 Champions League; Brann are tough opposition but Miłek, in her first European campaign at the age of 27, is having the year of her life after a career often blighted by injury, and last season finished as Ekstraliga top scorer in Czarni's title triumph.

Tie to watch: Brann vs Czarni Sosnowiec