Arsenal women handed tough Champions League draw with Lyon lined up in potential semi-final

Arsenal women have been drawn on the same side of the Champions League as six-time champions Olympique Lyonnais in the quarter-final and semi-final draw.

The Gunners, who are in the Champions League for the first time in five years after winning the Women’s Super League last season, will play the next best French side Paris Saint-Germain Feminine in the quarter finals, followed by the winner of Olympique Lyonnais versus Bayern Munich.

The Scottish side, Glasgow City, will be looking to reach the semi-finals for the first time as they face VfL Wolfsburg who have won the Champions League twice.

The teams will have a long wait before they play each other as the quarter finals will take place in the last week of March and first week of April, with the semi-finals one month later at the end of April and beginning of May. The final will take place on the 24th May in Vienna.

As the only English side left in the competition, Arsenal have won the Champions League once before in 2007 while PSG have come close but never lifted the trophy, losing in the final in 2015 and 2017. Arsenal won their last 16 tie confidently, beating Czech side Slavia Prague 13-2 on aggregate, as did PSG who won 7-1 against the Icelandic team Breidablik.

PSG and Arsenal have only played each other once before in a preseason club friendly in 2018, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

PSG are captained by 41-year-old Brazilian, Formiga, who has played in a record-breaking seven World Cups. Their squad also includes British-American player Alana Cook who was recently called up as a training player for the Lionesses for their friendlies against Brazil and Portugal before making the US women’s national team’s latest squad.

The other British hope, Glasgow City, made the quarter finals by winning on penalties in their last 16 tie against Brondby from Denmark, who came from 2-0 down in the first leg to make it 2-2 in the away fixture. They will now take on VfL Wolfsburg whose side includes Ballon d’Or nominee Penille Harder.

Atletico Madrid, who knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League with a 3-2 aggregate loss, will face their fellow Spanish side Barcelona in the quarter finals. The winner of that game will play either Glasgow or Wolfsburg in the semi-finals.

Quarter final draw 

Atletico Madrid (Spain) v Barcelona (Spain)

Lyon (France) v Bayern Munich (Germany)

Glasgow City (Scotland) v Wolfsburg (Germany)

Arsenal (England) v Paris Saint-Germain (France)

Semi-final draw 

Arsenal/Paris Saint-Germain v Lyon/Bayern Munich

Glasgow/Wolfsburg v Atletico/Barcelona