UEFA Women’s Champions League 2022/23: draw revealed as Arsenal and Chelsea learn fate

Arsenal set to face Lyon in the group stages of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, after the draw for the competition was made earlier today.

Lyon have previously won the competition five times, while Arsenal remain the only English women’s side to have lifted the trophy.

2020/21 runners-up Chelsea received automatic qualification to the tournament having won the Women’s Super League last season, but the Gunners were forced to go through a tough two-legged play-off with Ajax in order to be granted their place in the tournament.

Dutch superstar Vivianne Miedema scored the decisive second-leg goal in Amsterdam which ensured the Gunners won 3-2 on aggregate ,and they will now prepare to face the most successful side in the tournament.

Arsenal and Chelsea will be the only two British sides in the tournament after Manchester City were knocked out in the first qualifying round - they lost 1-0 to Real Madrid, while Rangers suffered a 5-3 on aggregate defeat to the Portuguese champions Benfica in the second round of qualifying.

City lost a plethora of their strongest players this summer, as they waved goodbye to Ellen White, Jill Scott, Keira Walsh, Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway.

Walsh and Bronze will however still feature in this year’s tournament after moving to FC Barcelona over the summer. They will come up against their fellow Euro 2022 winner Stanway after she moved to Bayern Munich.

As Arsenal and Chelsea prepare for the European tournament, here is all you need to know about the Women’s Champions League draw...

Women’s Champions League 2022/23 Group stage draw

• Group A: Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Vllaznia.
• Group B: Wolfsburg, Slavia Prague, St Polten, Roma.
• Group C: Lyon, Arsenal, Juventus, Zurich.
• Group D: Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Rosengard, Benfica.

What is the WCL 2022/23 schedule?

Group stages:

• Matchday 1: Wednesday 19/Thursday 20 October
• Matchday 2: Wednesday 26/Thursday 27 October
• Matchday 3: Wednesday 23/Thursday 24 November
• Matchday 4: Wednesday 7/Thursday 8 December
• Matchday 5: Wednesday 15/Thursday 16 December
• Matchday 6: Wednesday 21/Thursday 22 December

Quarter-final and semi-final draw:

• Friday 20 January - 12pm GMT

Quarter-finals:

• First leg: Tuesday 21/Wednesday 22 March 2023
• Second leg: Wednesday 29/Thursday 30 March 2023

Semi-finals:

• First leg: Saturday 22/Sunday 23 April 2023
• Second leg: Saturday 29/Sunday 30 April 2023

FINAL:

• Saturday 3 June or Sunday 4 June

How to watch the UEFA Women’s Champions League

DAZN will be the home of the Women’s Champions League 2022/23 after they signed a four-year deal ahead of last season.

The match will be on both DAZN and DAZN’s YouTube channel which is free to access.

Where will the final take place?

The Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, Netherlands, will host the final of the Women’s Champions League next June.

It is the third-largest football stadium in the country with a capacity of 36,500.

How to buy tickets for UEFA WCL final

Tickets are not yet available for the final, however fans wishing to can join a Ticket Waiting list through footballticket.club in order to be the first to hear when the tickets come available.

Further information on tickets and booking a place at the UEFA WCL final is also available through the UEFA website.