Arsenal and England star Beth Mead has voiced her frustration with the new Women’s Champions League format as the Gunners begin their title defence under sweeping changes to Europe’s top competition.
What is the new format?
From the 2025-26 season, the Women’s Champions League no longer features a traditional group stage. Instead, all 18 teams are placed into one league table under what is known as the ‘Swiss Model’.
Each side will now play six fixtures — three at home and three away. The top four teams automatically advance to the quarter-finals, while those placed between fifth and 12th will battle through a play-off round. Any team finishing 13th or lower will be eliminated.
This new structure is designed to increase competition and variety in fixtures, but not everyone is convinced.
Mead questions the new approach
Mead, who played a key role in England’s back-to-back European Championship victories, believes the traditional format offered more excitement. Speaking to Disney+ after Arsenal’s 2-0 victory away at Benfica, she said: “I’m not the biggest fan, I like group football and knockout football. I think that’s a beauty of football, but ultimately this is the way it’s now [and] we’ve got to play what’s in front of us.”
Mead opened the scoring in Portugal before England team-mate Alessia Russo sealed the win in the closing minutes. Reflecting on the game, Mead said: “It was tough, we knew we were going to come here and Benfica are a very physical team. They like to get under your skin. Obviously we like to play football and we knew that we shouldn’t get involved … It is hard, but we got the three points, got the two goals and that’s how it came in.”
Defending champions face added pressure
Arsenal return to Lisbon with fond memories, having beaten Barcelona there to claim the Champions League crown earlier this year. Now, as defending champions, Mead knows that every opponent will raise their game against them.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CHAMPS BABYYYY 🏆 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/zjxWx9xEqW
— Beth Mead MBE (@bmeado9) May 24, 2025
“Once you win it, everyone wants to beat you,” she said. “And, ultimately we’ve got up our game again. We had an up and down Champions League season last season and obviously we don’t want to play out like that again. But we’re looking forward to the challenge. We’ve got to step up to the challenge and we’ve got to be even better than we were last year.”
Slegers reflects and prepares
Head coach Renee Slegers is now using the international break to assess Arsenal’s start to the campaign after a mixed run that included a defeat to Lyon. She told the club’s official website: “It’s always a big reflection moment for us as a staff. Especially the first week, we will review both pre-season and the first block of games. And then the second week, we will preview the next block that’s coming up. So it’s always a good moment for us.
“There’s plenty of learning and plenty of energy is built to start the next block again. And I’m happy there’s a lot of players going to international camps. We’ll have a couple of players at home and everyone will do their thing, but I look forward to the start of block two.”
Upcoming fixtures
Arsenal, who currently sit fifth in the WSL table, will return to action on November 2 with a trip to Leicester. They then face a demanding run of games, hosting Chelsea before travelling to Bayern Munich in the Champions League and then Tottenham for the north London derby. The Gunners will also face Real Madrid at home before taking on Liverpool as they look to maintain their domestic and European ambitions.
