Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea begin Women's Champions League campaign in revamped 18-team format

The 2026/27 UEFA Women’s Champions League kicks off this week, with Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea representing England as three Women’s Super League clubs bid for the European crown in a competition now entering its second season under an expanded 18-team league-phase format.

Who is in the competition?

Eighteen clubs from 11 nations make up the league phase. England, France and Italy each have three representatives: Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City for England; OL Lyonnes, Paris FC and Paris Saint-Germain for France; and Roma, Inter and Juventus for Italy. Spain contributes Barcelona and Real Madrid, while Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland and Belgium are each represented by one club.

Barcelona enter as reigning champions after winning the 2025/26 edition in Oslo, Norway. Captain Alexia Putellas, who departed in the summer and has since joined London City Lionesses, will not feature in this year’s competition.

How did the teams qualify?

Nine clubs secured direct entry to the league phase, with the remaining nine coming through qualifying rounds. Barcelona qualified as European champions, while Arsenal, Chelsea, OL Lyonnes, Paris FC, PSG, Bayern Munich, Roma and Benfica earned direct places through domestic or European routes.

England and France, ranked as Europe’s two strongest women’s football nations by UEFA coefficient, each received two automatic berths. Spain, Germany, Italy and Portugal were allocated one apiece. Because Barcelona qualified on two grounds simultaneously — as European and Spanish champions — their additional place was redistributed to Swedish side Häcken, winners of the inaugural UEFA Women’s Europa Cup, who enter the Champions League league phase as a result.

The final qualifying spots were confirmed after the third qualifying round concluded on 2 September.

How does the format work?

This is the second season of the revamped league-phase structure, which replaced the old group-stage system. The 18 clubs were divided into three pots of six based on UEFA club coefficients. Each team is drawn against two opponents from each pot, playing one home and one away fixture against each — six matches in total, three at home and three away.

All 18 sides compete in a single league table, with three points for a win and one for a draw. At the end of the six matchdays, the top four clubs advance directly to the quarter-finals, teams finishing fifth through twelfth enter knockout phase play-offs, and the bottom six are eliminated.