Arsenal will begin their Women’s Champions League campaign with a qualifier against Swedish side Linkoping.
Jonas Eidevall’s side, beaten semi-finalists last season, are in the ‘League Path’ route to the group stage and will face Linkoping in a one-legged match on September 6.
The winners will then take on either Paris FC or FC Kryvbas of Ukraine three days later.
The first stage of qualifying is played as a one-venue mini-tournament, with 16 teams involved — the runners-up or third-placed teams in the associations ranked 1-7 in UEFA’s club coefficients. England are currently fourth — behind France, Germany and Spain — on that list.
The four winners of the mini-tournament will then join six further teams — including Manchester United, Wolfsburg, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain — in a second round of qualifying, with the five winners of that round progressing to the group stage.
A ‘Champions Path’ to the group stage features 41 teams — the champions of the football associations ranked eighth and below in UEFA’s coefficients.
They have been drawn into 11 single-venue knockout mini-tournaments: eight with four teams and three with three teams. The winners will progress to round two, joining three teams granted direct entry.
Round two takes place over two…
