Love it or hate it, the Women’s Champions League qualification format needs a re-think.
Not because there is only one Women’s Super League side through to this season’s group stage. On the contrary, as Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall rightly said on Friday, English clubs have not done well enough in Europe in recent years and have no divine right to be there.
Not because Manchester United lost to Paris St-Germain in qualifying. As debutants in Europe and only five years after reforming a senior women’s team, Manchester United were never going to have an easy route to European glory.
And not because – as Manchester United manager Marc Skinner controversially claimed on Wednesday – there is a “spread of average teams” in this season’s group stage, some of whom he felt are “not good enough” to be there. Many people will agree that there are some weaker teams, on paper, involved than several of the sides eliminated in qualifying. But it feels imperative that the organisers protect the “champions” element of the competition and incentivise investment in the women’s game across Europe.
Rather, it needs a re-think because this year’s group stage is going to be missing a significant number of elite, international players, a host of stars from the World Cup, and – in turn – is missing out on the fans who are drawn to watch those players.
When last season’s finalists, Wolfsburg, are absent from the group stage, something does not feel right, despite the fact that Paris FC – who played superbly to knock out the Germans after beating Arsenal – fully deserved to get through.
For broadcasters, sponsors, spectators and – therefore – Uefa themselves, it is not in their interest for high-quality, blockbuster fixtures to occur in the qualifying rounds. Both the PSG and Manchester United teams, for example, are full of World Cup stars. The gripping first-round qualifier that saw Eintracht Frankfurt eliminate Italian giants Juventus happened well before broadcasters DAZN’s rights deal kicks in for the group stage, as did Arsenal’s dramatic 3-3 draw and subsequent loss to Paris FC in a shootout.
From a commercial point of view, contests of that quality need more eyeballs. And it has happened repeatedly. In 2021 and 2022, Manchester City were knocked out by Real Madrid in the qualifying rounds and last year Ajax were somewhat unfortunate to lose a thrilling tie 3-2 on aggregate against Arsenal, also in the qualifiers. This year, Arsenal’s exit will hit the organisers’ pockets, with the Emirates having attracted most of the biggest club-level women’s football crowds in the world so far this year. But more than that, it is about the star players that this competition is missing.
Twelve of the 21 players who started 2022’s European Championship final between England and Germany and are still playing, play for clubs that have not qualified for the group stage of the Champions League, including that tournament’s top three goal-scorers.
Why is this happening? Principally, the current qualification format is weighted in favour of domestic champions from lesser-funded leagues – with a “champions” pathway entirely separate to the “league” pathway, which is for teams like Arsenal, Manchester United and Wolfsburg who did not win their domestic leagues.
That creates a lopsided qualification draw process, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.
It is the champions’ league for a reason and the women’s game has a chance to protect that in a way the men’s equivalent competition has failed to do so. Trying to ensure the women’s game grows across Europe is vital and admirable. But balancing that with attracting commercial investment is the difficult task Uefa faces.
The solution, surely, is to expand the Women’s Champions League, widening the group stage beyond its current 16-team limit.
Many would even like to see a second-tier women’s European competition created. An extra incentive to finish fourth instead of fifth, sixth or seventh, for example, in any top-flight league around Europe, would surely see fewer end-of-season dead rubbers. Not that everyone agrees. Asked if a women’s ‘Europa League’ was a good idea, Arsenal manager Eidevall said: “Yes and no.
“Yes, because it would be a nice opportunity for growth for teams to compete internationally. But no because when we look at the Champions League from an economic perspective I don’t think it is a winning affair yet. Once we get the financial model right, we can start expanding with more competitions. I can’t see the financial sustainability in adding another European competition right now.”
For now, increasing the number of group-stage spots for the Champions League feels essential. There will be no changes brought in until the 2025-26 season, but Uefa is reviewing the competition and it is understood expansion of one of the key topics up for discussion.
As for this season, the group-stage draw was made on Friday and has pitted Chelsea – England’s sole surviving team – in a tough-looking group featuring Real Madrid, as well as Swedish side BK Hacken and Paris FC. Holders Barcelona should make relatively light work of Group A but the headline act, packed with intrigue, is Group C, containing the league champions of Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, as well as PSG.
