Eintracht Frankfurt international! This year this applies not only to the men, but also to the women of Eintracht. For the first time in the club’s history, the Hessians are in the group phase of the Champions League (UWCL). Everything you need to know is here.
Attention, announcement: “We belong there. And now we’re turning Europe upside down,” said Eintracht defender Sara Doorsoun happily after the Hessians’ successful entry into the Women’s Champions League. Teammate Barbara Dunst also cheered: “I have goosebumps. That was a dream of mine, that was a dream of ours. We are making history with unity.”
Eintracht Frankfurt, that much is clear, is really keen on the women’s premier class, and the Hessians will face well-known opponents in the group phase. In Group A these are the defending champions FC Barcelona, as well as Benfica Lisbon and FC Rosengard from the Swedish city of Malmö. “This is a very, very exciting and attractive group,” said Eintracht coach Niko Arnautis: “With Barcelona, we are currently facing the biggest challenge in club football in Europe. We are looking forward to magical and exciting nights at home Travel.”
But what exactly does Eintracht expect? Here comes the UWCL check.
The competition
In 2001, UEFA introduced the first European competition for women’s football teams. At that time, one team per nation could take part under the name “Women’s Cup”. From Germany it was 1. FFC Frankfurt, who immediately won their first international title. A good omen?
In 2009, UEFA made the first changes to the competition, for example changing the name to “Women’s Champions League” in order to make the competition more attractive. Since 2021, teams from the top six leagues have been given three starting places instead of just one or two. From the women’s Bundesliga this year, FC Bayern Munich as champions and Eintracht Frankfurt, who had to qualify, are seeded in the UWCL. The third club with a starting place would have been VfL Wolfsburg, but they surprisingly failed to qualify.
A group phase with 16 teams in four groups has also been new for two years. A total of six match days will take place on the following dates:
1st match day: 14/15. November
2nd matchday: 22/23. November
3rd matchday: 13th/14th December
4th matchday: 20/21. December
5th matchday: January 24th/25th
6th matchday: 30/31. January
In the following knockout phase there will be a return match up to the final. The quarter-final games take place in March and the semi-final games in April. The final is on May 25th in Bilbao, Spain.
The favorites
The French club is the record winner of the Champions League and the top favorite for the title Olympique Lyon, who has already won the UWCL eight times. The French have been represented a total of six times in the last eight finals, with Lyon winning the last trophy in the final against Lyon in 2022 FC Barcelona.
And thus against the current defending champions and once again co-favorites, Barca won spectacularly 3-2 against VfL Wolfsburg in the 2023 final despite being 2-0 down. For the six-time English champions Chelsea FC Although they haven’t won an international title yet, the Blues are still a force to be reckoned with; the team from London often goes far in the UWCL. Last season, Chelsea narrowly failed in the semi-finals against FC Barcelona, and in 2021 the Blues lost the final against the Catalans.
The stars
While other female footballers retire at the age of 33, Wendie Renard continue undeterred. With 102 games played in the UWCL, the Frenchwoman from Olympique Lyon is the competition’s record player and is also a true club legend: the defender has witnessed all eight Champions League victories on the pitch. Not a bad result.
This also applies to offensive players Alexia Putellas from FC Barcelona, together with her teammate Jennifer Hermoso scored the most goals in the Champions League for Barcelona (both 19 goals). In 2021 and 2022, the 29-year-old was awarded the Ballon d’Or for World Player of the Year as well as the title of FIFA World Player of the Year and UEFA Player of the Year.
Of which is Lea Schüller Although still a little away, the FC Bayern Munich striker became top scorer in the Bundesliga in 2021. This year the 25-year-old is celebrating her second German championship in three seasons since she joined the Munich team. Schüller is ice cold in front of the goal, 68 goals in 104 games for FCB speak for themselves.
