Women’s Champions League playoffs to test WSL teams’ depth and new format’s value

The next phase of the new Women’s Champions League format begins on Wednesday and Thursday with the four playoff first legs. Arsenal and Manchester United are among eight teams chasing the remaining quarter-final places, while Barcelona, Lyon, Chelsea and Bayern Munich qualified automatically as the top four from the league phase.

The switch from a group stage to a league format mirrors the men’s competition and has prompted scepticism given the UWCL group stage was only introduced for 2021-22. Uefa data show the new structure has produced more competitive matches: a 27% rise in games decided by a single goal, a 16% increase in fixtures featuring goals from both teams, and the win rate for the side scoring first down from 88% to 61%.

Lower-ranked sides have also improved, taking an average of 1.1 points a game this season compared with 0.6 last season.

uwcl, playoffs, arsenal, manchester united, barcelona, lyon, chelsea, bayern munich, league format, uefa data