The draw for the new League Phase of the Women’s Champions League takes place this week, and here our guide explains who Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United could face, how to watch the draw and when the fixtures will take place.
Women’s Champions League format for the 2025-26 season
The Women’s Champions League has a big change with a new format replacing the old group stage.
This season, the women’s competition introduces the same system introduced in the men’s tournament last year, just with fewer teams.
This season’s competition will see 18 teams take part in the league phase. Each team will play six different opponents, three at home and three away, and ranked into one overall group table.
The 18 clubs are divided into three pots of six clubs. The pots are composed according to the club’s coefficient rankings established at the beginning of the season.
Each club will play two teams from each of the three pots, which also includes the pot they are in.
The top four sides in the league phase will advance directly to the quarter-finals. Teams that place between fifth and 12th, will compete in a two-legged playoff to decide the final four teams to make the last eight.
🆕 #UWCL format and how it works:
▪️18 teams enter the League Phase
▪️Six games each (vs different opponents) – three at home – three away
▪️Teams placed 1-4th will go through to the Quarter-finals
▪️ Teams placed 5-12th will compete in a two-legged knockout play-offs, the… pic.twitter.com/1xEUQrc6p7
— Chelsea Women (@CFC__Women) September 17, 2025
Who Arsenal and Chelsea could face in the Women’s Champions League?
Arsenal and Chelsea are both in Pot 1 for Friday’s Women’s Champions League.
Both clubs will face two other teams from the first pot, but cannot play each other.
That means the Women’s Super League clubs will each face two of Barcelona, Lyon, Bayern Munich, and VfL Wolfsburg.
Arsenal and Chelsea will then face two teams in each of the second and third pots. However, they won’t be able to play more than two teams from the same country.
The teams they can play in Pot 2 are Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Juventus, Benfica, Roma and St. Polten.
From Pot 3, they can face Twente, Valerenga, Paris FC, Atletico Madrid and OH Leuven.
A worst possible draw for both sides could consist of Bayern Munich, Lyon, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid and Paris FC.
Perhaps their most favourable draw would consist of Bayern Munich, VfL Wolfsburg, St. Polten, Roma, OH Leuven and Valerenga.
Which pot are Manchester United in?
Manchester United qualified for the league phase after a 3-1 aggregate victory over Brann in the third qualifying round of the Women’s Champions League.
This is only their second time in the Champions League, and therefore, it is no surprise that they are in Pot 3.
Last season, being in the lowest pot would have made life tougher for United than if they were in the top pot. However, with the new league phase format, their list of potential opponents are exactly the same as that of Arsenal and Chelsea.
Date and time of the Women’s Champions League draw
The Women’s Champions League draw for the League Phase takes place at 11am on Friday, September 17th.
Those in the United Kingdom will be able to watch the draw live on Disney+.
The streaming platform won the rights to broadcast the Women’s Champions League for five seasons starting from this year.
Those hoping to watch the draw or the games, will need a Disney+ subscription.
