UWCL League Phase Kicks Off: Barcelona Defends, Inter and Austria — SkimNews
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- UEFA Women's Champions League returns Tuesday with its expanded single-league format, as 18 teams play six matches each and the top four advance directly to quarterfinals while fifth through twelfth compete in a knockout playoff round.
- FC Barcelona open their title defense without 14-year veteran Alexia Putellas, who departed for London City Lionesses, though Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí is healthy and ready for the league phase opener against Paris FC on Wednesday.
- Arsenal, champions two seasons ago, face heavyweight matchups against Barcelona and OL Lyonnes in the league phase after adding Georgia Stanway and Ona Batlle while losing Katie McCabe and Beth Mead, the latter joining Manchester City.
- Manchester City compete in the league phase for the first time as Barclays WSL champions, led by reigning Golden Boot winner Bunny Shaw and new signing Beth Mead alongside Lionesses Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood.
- Inter Milan and Austria Wien make their first-ever UWCL appearances after dramatic qualifying runs — Inter via penalty shootout over Wolfsburg, and Austria Wien after Modesta Uka's hat trick overturned a first-leg deficit against Brann.
- Paramount+ becomes the streaming home for all 183 UWCL matches this season — the most ever under the expanded format — with CBS Sports Network airing one match per matchweek.
- PSG enter as long shots after finishing 17th in last season's 18-team league phase and bowing out early, a stark fall for a club that previously defined European women's football royalty.
Why it matters: The second season under the expanded single-league format replaces four-team groups with an 18-club table where six games per side determine which four advance automatically and eight more must fight through a playoff — a structural shift that puts more pressure on mid-table clubs like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, who lost key veterans (Stanway to Arsenal, Misa Rodriguez and Caroline Weir to Arsenal, Girelli and Bonansean to NWSL loans) and now face a steeper climb to quarterfinal qualification.
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