Chelsea and Bayern Munich secured the Women’s Champions League’s last two automatic quarter-final qualification places during Wednesday’s final round of league phase fixtures.
Bayern Munich were the biggest beneficiaries from the last gameweek of the league phase, moving from sixth at the start of the day up to fourth with a 3-0 win over Valerenga to ensure they avoided the knockout phase play-offs.
Chelsea remained third to seal their quarter-final spot after coming from behind to beat Wolfsburg 2-1. Alexandra Popp had put the German side ahead before goals from Lucy Bronze and Sam Kerr secured all three points for Sonia Bompastor’s side.
Manchester United and Arsenal both moved up the table with their respective wins over Juventus and OH Leuven, in theory ensuring kinder knockout phase play-off ties by guaranteeing they will both be seeded for the draw.
Juventus had started the day in the top four but were beaten 1-0 by United to drop to seventh. Jess Park’s first-half goal proved the difference between the two sides to see United move from ninth to sixth.
Defending champions Arsenal beat OH Leuven 3-0 thanks to first-half goals from Beth Mead, Olivia Smith and a second-half Saar Janssen own goal to finish fifth, one point shy of Bayern in the fourth and final automatic quarter-final qualification place.
Teams will discover their knockout phase play-off and potential quarter-final opponents in Thursday’s draw.
Who has qualified for the quarter-finals?
- Barcelona
- Lyon
- Chelsea
- Bayern Munich
The teams who finished first to fourth in the league phase automatically qualify for the quarter-finals. Three-time champions Barcelona and eight-time champions Lyon had already guaranteed a top-four finish before the final round of fixtures on Wednesday, having both won four of their opening five games. They consolidated their spots in the top two on Wednesday with Barcelona beating Paris FC 2-0 and Lyon winning 4-0 against Atletico Madrid.
Chelsea and Juventus occupied the final two spots heading into the final round of fixtures, but Juventus dropped out following their 1-0 loss to Manchester United. Real Madrid, fifth at the start of the day, could not capitalise on Juventus’ loss as they were held to a 1-1 draw by FC Twente, leaving Bayern to take advantage.
Who has qualified for the knockout phase play-offs?
- Arsenal
- Manchester United
- Real Madrid
- Juventus
- Wolfsburg
- Paris FC
- Atletico Madrid
- OH Leuven
The teams who finished from fifth to 12th in the league phase will compete in a knockout phase play-off across two legs to secure their place in the quarter-finals. The winners of the four play-off ties will then play one of the teams who finished in the top four of the league phase in the quarter-finals.
Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg, Arsenal and Manchester United had all guaranteed at least a play-off spot heading into the final round of league phase fixtures, but were still in with a chance of securing automatic qualification for the quarter-finals on Wednesday had results gone in their favour.
Paris FC were also assured of a knockout phase play-off spot with one game remaining, but would have required an unlikely goal difference swing if they were to move into the top four. Atletico Madrid were all but guaranteed a place in the top 12 owing to their superior goal difference, but automatic qualification for the quarter-finals was out of reach by the final round of fixtures.
This left just 12th place to play for in matchweek six. OH Leuven occupied the final play-off spot heading into Wednesday’s games, and they could only be caught by Norwegian club Valerenga, who were two points behind. Leuven claimed the final play-off place after both sides were beaten.
Who has been eliminated?
- Valerenga
- Roma
- FC Twente
- Benfica
- Paris Saint-Germain
- St. Polten
The teams who finished from 13th to 18th in the league phase were eliminated.
Two-time beaten finalists Paris Saint-Germain’s elimination was already confirmed before the final round of fixtures, having picked up just one point from their opening five games. St. Polten, FC Twente, Benfica and Roma had all also failed to win any of their first five league phase matches and could not qualify for the play-offs heading into matchweek six. OH Leuven and Valerenga were the only teams for whom elimination hung in the balance on Wednesday, with Valerenga ultimately knocked out.
How does the knockout phase draw work?
The teams who finished in fifth and sixth (Arsenal and Manchester United) will be seeded in the knockout phase play-off draw, and will each be drawn against one of the unseeded 11th and 12th placed sides (Atletico Madrid and OH Leuven). Similarly, the teams in seventh and eighth (Real Madrid and Juventus) will be seeded and drawn against the unseeded sides in ninth and 10th (Wolfsburg and Paris FC).
UEFA regulations dictate that teams can face another club from the same national association in the knockout phase play-offs, and could also meet opponents they faced in the league phase.
The winners of these four play-off ties will then be drawn against one of the top four teams from the league phase.
The quarter-final draw will also be partially determined by league phase positions. The two winners of the play-off ties involving teams in 5th, 6th, 11th and 12th (Arsenal, Manchester United, Atletico Madrid and OH Leuven) will play the sides in 3rd or 4th (Chelsea or Bayern Munich) in two quarter-final ties.
The two winners of the play-off ties involving 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th (Real Madrid, Juventus, Wolfsburg and Paris FC) will play 1st and 2nd (Barcelona and Lyon) in two quarter-final ties.
Women’s Champions League 2025-26 key dates
- Knockout phase draw: December 18
- Knockout phase play-off first legs: February 11/12
- Knockout phase play-off second legs: February 18/19
- Quarter-final first legs: March 24/25
- Quarter-final second legs: April 1/2
- Semi-final first-legs: April 25/26
- Semi-final second legs: May 2/3
- Final (Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo): May 23