Chelsea drawn against Real Madrid, BK Häcken, Paris FC in Women’s Champions League group stage

The draw for the group stage of the 2023-24 UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) was conducted earlier today, drawing all 16 entrants into four groups of four.

Chelsea, as Champions of England, qualified automatically for the group stage and were placed into Pot 1 alongside fellow champions Barcelona, Lyon, and Bayern Munich. Barca are also the defending European champions.

We shouldn’t be fearing anyone at this stage, but the draw still looks fairly favorable (though not without danger) with games against Real Madrid (Pot 2), BK Häcken (Pot 3), and Paris FC (Pot 4).

Madrid and Häcken both finished runners-up in their respective leagues, Spain and Sweden. Madrid then easily beat Norway’s Vålerenga, 5-1 on aggregate, in their qualifier, while Häcken squeezed past Twente from the Netherlands, 4-3. Paris FC (not PSG) finished just third in France but came through the gauntlet of general qualifying, which included massive upsets against Arsenal (on penalties after a 3-3 draw) and Wolfsburg (5-3 on aggregate).

The group stages will start in mid-November, with Chelsea’s three home games set to be played at Stamford Bridge. The exact schedule should be out shortly.

The draw, in full, for the 2023-24 UWCL group stage is as follows.

Group A: Barcelona, Rosengård, Benfica, Eintracht Frankfurt
Group B: Lyon, Slavia Prague, St. Pölten, Brann
Group C: Bayern, PSG, Roma, Ajax
Group D: CHELSEA, Real Madrid, BK Häcken, Paris FC