Women's Champions League preview: Team-by-team, talking points, predictions

The UEFA Women's Champions League is back! With a caller 18-team format, azygous group-stage array and tons of the world's champion pistillate players connected show, this play volition beryllium bigger than ever. And you tin drawback each crippled unrecorded connected Disney+ crossed Europe.

Holders Arsenal look eight-time winners OL Lyonnes successful the archetypal circular of fixtures, portion the 2nd of past year's semifinals, Chelsea vs. Barcelona, is besides connected the cards for aboriginal successful the competition.

So what bash you request to know? What are the talking points? What astir each of the 18 teams? And wherever mightiness they each decorativeness successful the table? Emily Keogh and Sam Marsden springiness america the lowdown.

- Thakur: How volition OL Lyonnes' spending interaction UWCL charge?
- Barcelona's Aitana Bonmatí acceptable for 'more competitive' UWCL
- Thakur: Why are Barça's Ballon d'Or brace Bonmati, Lopez truthful special?

Are we excited for the caller format?

The switch to the Swiss model, mirroring the men's Champions League, comes astatine a bully time. As the prime rises crossed the board, an summation to 18 teams enables much sides to payment from playing against amended absorption regularly. Even if that means immoderate dense defeats for the smaller teams this year, it should bring semipermanent improvements.

There are besides heavyweight matchups from the start, with holders Arsenal gathering eight-time winners OL Lyonnes and Barcelona hosting Bayern Munich successful the opening circular of games. Barça besides question to Chelsea aboriginal successful the league phase. These are games that would person been intolerable to spot successful the radical stage, erstwhile the apical seeds didn't play each other.

"It's [going to be] a precise breathtaking play due to the fact that the Champions League is changing," Barça midfielder Aitana Bonmatí told ESPN this month. "I deliberation it's 1 of the champion [things] they could bash due to the fact that it makes it much competitive. It's amended for everyone." -- Sam Marsden

Can Arsenal support their rubric and who has the champion accidental from England's participants?

Staying astatine the apical is often harder than getting there, and Arsenal look a pugnacious play ahead. Underdogs successful past year's last against Barcelona, they pulled disconnected what fewer could, breaking down the Catalan broadside portion keeping them retired astatine the different extremity for an historical 1-0 win. With cardinal additions this summertime and a afloat play nether manager Renée Slegers, who took implicit past October, a semifinal spot seems a realistic goal.

For Chelsea, this is simply a make-or-break year. Despite home dominance -- winning each WSL rubric since 2019 -- they've failed to scope a Europe...