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Women's Champions League Matchday 1 Preview
Previewing the matches for the opening matchday of the 2026/27 UEFA Women's Champions League.
Tuesday marks the start of the UEFA Women's Champions League proper, as the league phase begins. Eighteen teams fight it out for a spot in the top 12 and knockout football.
Two debutants will make their bow in the competition proper, while five others have played in the group stage/league phase in all six seasons since the 2021/22 edition. Ahead of the opening round, here is a preview of the nine games to take place.
Match of the Round: Bayern Munich vs Manchester City
We kick things off with the match of the round, where the defending champions of Germany and England, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, square off in a first-time clash.
Bayern are the only one of five teams to partake in all six group phase seasons in the competition but yet to make a final. With that said, the two-time semifinalists do have a strong record against English teams, winning seven of 11 previous head-to-heads, including their last three. In 15 previous home games at this point of the competition, they have yet to lose (13-2-0).
City, who have also reached two semifinals in the past, make their return to the UWCL two years on from playing in the last eight before losing out to Chelsea. Last term saw the Cityzens capture their second-ever WSL title along with the FA Cup. While this is their ninth appearance in the competition all-time, they have never faced a German opponent before. They were unable to keep an away clean sheet in the 2024/25 campaign across the group stage and quarterfinals.
Europa Cup Holders Look for Strong Start
Tuesday's other early clash will be in Italy, where Internazionale take on BK Häcken for the second year running. The two also squared off in the inaugural UEFA Women's Europa Cup round of 16 last term, with the Swedes coming out on top 1-0 on aggregate. That 0-0 draw on the road was the only match Häcken failed to win on their travels en route to lifting the trophy in May. As for Inter, their second appearance in the UWCL started in the third qualifying round, where they stunned Wolfsburg on penalties to become the third different Italian side to make the group phase.
Arsenal play host to Danish champions HB Køge six years on from their group stage clashes in 2021/22. The Gunners came out on top in both games, winning 5-1 at home and 3-0 away. Twice champions of the UWCL, the North Londoners have been beaten in three of their four previous group phase campaigns on the first matchday. Køge went unbeaten in the qualifying rounds, winning three of four clashes. They remain Denmark's only participant in the UWCL proper, though this is their first foray at this stage since the aforementioned 2021/22.
For the second autumn in a row, Juventus are at home to Benfica. The Bianconere came out on top last October in a 2-1 victory. They also defeated Torreense by the same score this summer in qualifying, meaning they own a perfect record versus Portuguese opposition. Since making the last eight five years ago, they have yet to go past the knockout round playoffs in Europe. Benfica also played in the quarterfinals - albeit more recently in 2023/24. That was the only occasion in their previous four where they successfully negotiated the group phase.
Real Madrid's sixth group phase in a row begins against the side they have faced more than other in competition history, Paris Saint-Germain. Another meeting from last term, Las Blancas won for the first time in this head-to-head at the fifth time of asking (1-1-3). Thrice have they reached the quarters, but are yet to go farther. PSG surprisingly failed to make it out of the league phase in 2025/26, collecting just two points. However, it has already been a more positive start to this campaign as Les Parisiennes knocked off Eintracht Frankfurt in the last qualifying round to get here.
Holders, Finalists Get to Work
It will be a tough test for Switzerland's Servette on their return to the main round of the competition as they face record winners OL Lyonnes. It has been a long wait for Les Grenats to make it back to this point. Knocking out Dinamo Minsk, Aktobe, and Sparta Praha in the qualifiers, their reward is a first-ever meeting with Lyonnes. The French giants earned a fifth straight domestic title and 19th overall last term while also making the final of the UWCL for the 12th time. All five of their previous matches against Swiss sides saw them beat FC Zürich by a combined score of 31-1.
After playing to a 1-1 draw in last season's league phase, OH Leuven and AS Roma will meet in Belgium once again. There are already a few parallels for the Belgian champions to last term as they made it past the summer with a 3-1-0 record. Having qualified for the knockout playoffs last term despite just one win during the fall, OHL will fancy their chances at doing it again. In their way are a Roma side who have only progressed from a group phase once, back in 2022/23. They had just one win last fall, which came in a dead rubber in the final round.
Barcelona commence their title defence against Paris FC, the team they triumphed 2-0 against to end the league phase last December. Yet, for all of their recent success in the UWCL, the Catalans still have a losing record versus French teams (4-2-7). That could give them reason to fear. Paris have gone as far as the semifinals 14 years ago, but have yet to even get to the quarterfinals since. They have not had much joy when meeting Spanish opposition, losing four of seven all-time meetings, including three of four in 2025/26. This is their fifth year running in Europe, their longest ever.
England's only ever-presents in the UWCL group phase, Chelsea host first-timers Austria Wien on Wednesday. The Blues have played in the tournament every season since 2015/16, losing the final in 2020/21. They won 6-0 over St. Pölten in last year's league phase en route to a third place finish of the 18. They will be favourites versus an Austria Wien team who reached the Women's Europa Cup quarterfinals last spring before losing out to Sparta Praha. This is their third-ever continental campaign, having also participated as Landhaus Wien back in 2018/19.
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