The draw for the new League Phase of the Women’s Champions League takes place this week, and here our guide explains who Arsenal and Chelsea could face, how to watch the draw and when the fixtures will take place.
Women’s Champions League format for the 2025-26 season
European football is changing in women’s football this season with a new format for the Women’s Champions League.
The old group stage format is a thing of the past. This season, the women’s competition implements the same system that was introduced in the men’s Champions League last season.
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 guaranteed to be in the first pot for the Women’s Champions League draw.
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 other three teams, who enter the Champions League at the League Phase – Juventus, Benfica, and Paris Saint-Germain – will all be in the second pot.
As things stand after the first-leg of the third qualifying round, they will be joined in Pot 2 by Real Madrid, BK Hacken and St. Polten.
Pot 3 would currently consist of Valrenga, OH Leuven, Brann, FC Twente, Sporting and one of Paris FC or Austria Wien.
Which pot will Manchester United be in if they qualify for the League Phase?
Manchester United, should they turn around their 1-0 deficit to Brann in the second-leg of their third qualifying round, would be placed in Pot 3 for the League Phase draw.
The only teams United would not be able to face, like Chelsea or Arsenal, are their Women’s Super League rivals.
European giants will be hoping to avoid Manchester United from Pot 3, should they make the League Phase.
Also hoping to overturn deficits in the third qualifying round second-legs include Ferencvaros, Vorskla Poltava, Fortuna Hjorring, GKS Katowice, Eintracht Frankfurt and Roma.
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.
