When you think of the Champions League, who comes to mind? Maybe Arsenal, Wolfsburg, Manchester United or Juventus? No disrespect, but it’s probably not Slavia Prague, Paris FC or St Polten, is it?
But it’s those three who will be in this season’s group stages because the bigger names were knocked out in qualifying.
So does the Women’s Champions League need a shake-up to make sure we’re seeing the best competition possible?
The Athletic’s women’s football reporter Charlotte Harpur and senior writer Michael Cox debated the topic on Full Time Europe, with Sophie Penney asking the questions.
Listen in full to the podcast or read the edited highlights below…
Sophie Penney: How did we get to a point where so many big teams didn’t make it through qualifying? Manchester United lost 4-2 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain and Marc Skinner said the format needed changing. “We want the best teams in the Champions League,” he said, “not just a spread of some average teams.”
Charlotte Harpur: We already knew this format needed tweaking, and Marc Skinner knew that going into the competition. Manchester United didn’t win and that’s what they needed to do to make the group stage. And what are the best teams? The best teams are the teams that win on the pitch.
He’s…
