Women's Champions League returns: What to look out for in 2022-23 quarter-finals

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Lyon assistance   Women's Champions League trophyLyon won the Women's Champions League for an eighth clip past play with a 3-1 triumph implicit Barcelona successful the final

Chelsea sailed done the radical stages undefeated. Arsenal proved eight-time winners Lyon tin beryllium beaten. But tin an English broadside yet marque a breakthrough and triumph the Women's Champions League for the archetypal clip since 2007?

The radical stages person travel and gone and it's clip for the knockout rounds with the archetypal legs of the quarter-finals kicking disconnected this week.

Chelsea question to reigning champions Lyon, Arsenal look Bayern Munich, Roma invited Barcelona and Paris St-Germain big Wolfsburg.

So what challenges bash the 2 Women's Super League sides face? BBC Sport takes a look astatine who's progressive and what to ticker retired for.

Chelsea

Emma Hayes' broadside person been England's astir palmy squad successful caller years, with the Blues connected people for a 4th consecutive WSL rubric this season.

They person been the lone English squad to scope a Champions League last since Arsenal's occurrence successful 2007, but a dense 4-0 decision saw Barcelona assistance the trophy successful 2021.

Having failed to get retired of the radical signifier past year, Chelsea topped their 2022-23 radical with 5 wins, scoring 19 goals and lone dropping points successful a 1-1 gully against Real Madrid.

The Blues are successful superb signifier successful the WSL, having gone unbeaten since a astonishment decision by Liverpool successful their opening crippled successful September.

They suffered conscionable their 2nd nonaccomplishment of the play earlier this period erstwhile they missed retired connected the Continental League Cup, with Arsenal winning 3-1 successful the final.

Despite sitting astatine the apical of the French league, Chelsea's quarter-final opponents Lyon had a rocky travel done the radical stages this year, losing heavy to Arsenal earlier drafting some of their games against Juventus.

Arsenal

They whitethorn beryllium the lone English squad to person won the Women's Champions League - doing truthful successful 2007 - but Arsenal haven't reached the semi-finals successful 10 years and they've fallen astatine the quarter-finals successful their past 3 campaigns.

Can they alteration the tide this clip around?

It won't beryllium casual with Bayern Munich lasting successful their way. The German broadside person ne'er won the contention but they bash person caller European semi-final experience, reaching the past 4 successful 2020-21 - beaten by Chelsea 5-3.

A 5-1 triumph implicit eight-time Champions League winners Lyon was the item for Jonas Eidevall's Arsenal, who topped Group C with 4 victories, portion Bayern finished down Barcelona connected extremity difference, having won each but 1 of their matches.

With a dip successful signifier astatine the commencement of 2023, Arsenal person dropped extracurricular of the Champions League spots to 4th successful the WSL, but the Gunners' assurance volition person been boosted aft lifting their archetypal trophy successful 4 years with their Continental Cup triumph implicit Chelsea.

For Bayern Munich, the Champions League quarter-finals travel astatine a important play successful their league season. Their 2 ties against Arsenal are separated by what could beryllium a title-deciding crippled against league-leaders Wolfsburg, who beryllium conscionable 2 points supra Alexander Straus' side.

Big stadiums

Barcelona acceptable   a caller   grounds   attendance for a women's nine  crippled  past  play   with 91,648 fans watching their semi-final against Wolfsburg astatine  the Nou Camp

Big games telephone for large stadiums and each of the quarter-final teams volition play successful their club's larger crushed which is usually utilized for the men's teams. That's 8 iconic stadiums.

Champions League debutantes Roma volition big Barcelona astatine Italy's Stadio Olimpico earlier travelling to the Nou Camp for the 2nd leg.

Barcelona attracted tremendous crowds to the aforesaid stadium past season, drafting successful more than 90,000 spectators for some their quarter-final against Real Madrid and semi-final against Wolfsburg.

Chelsea volition play astatine Parc Olympique Lyonnais and Arsenal volition question to the Allianz Arena for their first-leg ties against Lyon and Bayern Munich, respectively.

In the instrumentality legs, some WSL teams volition beryllium welcoming their opponents to their club's bigger stadium - Stamford Bridge and Emirates Stadium.

In January, a assemblage of 46,811 - the second-biggest successful WSL past - turned retired astatine the Emirates to ticker a 1-1 draw betwixt Arsenal and Chelsea, who, astatine that point, were the apical 2 teams successful the league.

PSG volition play Wolfsburg astatine the 48,583-capacity Parc des Princes successful Paris earlier heading to Wolfsburg's Volkswagen Arena for the instrumentality fixture.

Main contenders

It's hard to look past Lyon for this year's Champions League title, with the French broadside winning six of the past 7 trophies.

Barcelona, who stole the spotlight from Lyon successful 2021 and were the top-scoring nine successful this year's radical stages, are besides seen arsenic large contenders, having reached 3 finals successful the past 4 years.

Leading the Spanish apical part by 10 points, Barcelona are yet to driblet points this play and they look acceptable to assertion the rubric for a 4th twelvemonth successful a row.

However, this season's radical signifier proved that Lyon and Barcelona tin person their atrocious days arsenic Arsenal and Bayern Munich demonstrated they tin bushed Europe's best.

Chelsea and Wolfsburg should not beryllium overlooked either, arsenic the lone teams to scope the quarter-finals unbeaten.

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