Arsenal, Man City discover Women's Champions League opponents in qualifying draw

The Gunners have already been forced to navigate two first-round ties to make it this far, firstly thrashing Rangers 6-0 in their semi-final before a narrow 1-0 victory over Rosenborg on Saturday. Meanwhile, Man City bypassed the opening stage of Women's Champions League qualifying thanks to their second-placed finish in last year's Women's Super League, and Gareth Taylor 's side have been drawn to face Paris FC . The French club - who scored 11 goals over their two first-round meetings with First Vienna and Sparta Prague - have extremely fond memories of facing English teams in Champions League qualifying, having eliminated Arsenal on penalties in last year's first round.

Jonas Eidevall 's side were denied a shot at revenge against the French outfit, and they will instead take on Swedish side BK Hacken, who reached the quarter-finals of the 2023-24 edition before being eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain. Arsenal and Hacken previously crossed paths in the 2011-12 Champions League quarter-finals, when the Scandinavian side were known as Goteborg, and the Gunners progressed 3-2 on aggregate, winning 3-1 at home before an inconsequential 1-0 away defeat. © Imago Arsenal and Man City were among the five seeded teams in the 10-club league path, which also features the likes of Juventus, Wolfsburg, Sporting Lisbon and Real Madrid, the latter two of whom will face each other.



WSL holders Chelsea earned direct entry into the group stage, but Celtic Women must overcome Ukraine's Vorskla Poltava in a two-legged champions path battle for the right to enter the group stage. Arsenal and Man City will both play the first legs of their ties away from home on September 18/19, before the return fixtures on British soil on September 25/26. Five teams from the league path and seven from the champions path will advance to the 16-team group stage, which already houses Chelsea, Lyon, Bayern Munich and defending champions Barcelona.

The draw for the group stage of the Women's Champions League takes place on September 27, the day after the second-round qualifying ties are completed, and the phase will run from October 8 to December 18. The Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon will host this year's Champions League final, which will be held on either May 23, 24 or 25. League Path: Sporting Lisbon vs.

Real Madrid Juventus vs. Paris Saint-Germain Paris FC vs. Manchester City Fiorentina vs.

Wolfsburg BK Hacken vs. Arsenal Champions Path: St Polten vs. ZNK Mura Benfica vs.

Hammarby Osijek vs. Twente Galatasaray vs. Slavia Prague Roma vs.

Servette Anderlecht vs. Valerenga Vorskla Poltava vs. Celtic.