#uefa-womens-champions-league

#uefa-womens-champions-league

The inaugural UEFA Women's Champions League play-offs get underway on Wednesday, ushering in a new chapter in the competition's format and raising the stakes for the eight teams in the mix. The sides that finished between fifth and 12th in the league phase now face a high-pressure, two-legged battle to progress to the knockouts and with little room for error, the play-offs present contrasting motivations.

CHELSEA (B+) They might have only finished 12th, but sealing a spot in the knockout-phase playoffs would have been beyond the Belgian minnows' wildest dreams in their first-ever UWCL tournament. A win over FC Twente and draws with PSG, Paris FC and Roma set them up for success. They even managed to keep Barcelona and Arsenal to only three goals.

The UEFA Women's Champions League league phase table is virtually finalized. But there is still one more matchday to go, with all nine games kicking off at 3 p.m. ET (8 p.m. GMT). Barcelona travel to Paris FC and OL Lyonnes host Atlético Madrid with their places in the knockouts already secured. But there's still a bit at stake, as VfL Wolfsburg host Chelsea with both teams looking to get into one of the final two automatic qualification spots.

Today, Ballisager plays for Bayern Munich, the club that brings together the many strands of her experience. "Here, I've found what I really like," she says. "Precision, possession, physical presence, tactical discipline." Elements she learned on her travels all come together here. At 1.71 metres tall, she commands the centre of defence - composed, efficient and unobtrusive. And that's also true of the national team: more than 70 international caps speak for themselves. There, Ballisager is vice-captain, behind a certain Pernille Harder.

The UEFA Women's Champions League will play its final matchday of the new-look league phase on Dec. 17, and all nine games kick off at the same time at 3 p.m. ET (8 p.m. GMT). All 18 teams have been battling to progress since early October and we now have a rough idea which 12 teams will be able to seal progress to the knockout stages, either automatically or via a playoff.

The UEFA Women's Champions League is back again for matchday five and, with only one more matchday after this, the league phase table is virtually finalized. In the early games, Barcelona face Benfica and Valerenga take on Paris FC. Then Manchester United host OL Lyonnes, Chelsea take on Roma and Atletico Madrid will look to shock Bayern Munich. Join us for all the action and, if you're in Europe, you can stream the next round of Women's Champions League games on Disney+.

"Until a few years ago, we didn't even need somebody to do that job,"

The Australia international right-back opened the scoring against Chelsea's biggest European foe, but squandered what should have been the match-winner at Stamford Bridge. Though she missed the golden opportunity to seal victory, her contribution to the club since joining in July has elevated the side to new heights, something rather incredible given the world-class team she stepped into.