Chelsea will face Women’s Super League (WSL) rivals Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League while Arsenal will play Real Madrid.

The all-WSL tie means Chelsea and City will face each other four times in a row in all competitions with the Subway Cup final on March 15 and a league fixture on March 23 also scheduled for next month.

Chelsea beat City 2-0 in the first WSL meeting of the two of the season in November, with Mayra Ramirez and Guro Reiten scoring second-half goals at Stamford Bridge.

Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea won Champions League Group B with a perfect six-from-six record, with Madrid following them through in second place.

Gareth Taylor’s City followed two-time defending champions Barcelona through in Group D.

Arsenal, now under recently-appointed Renee Slegers, topped Group C with five wins and one draw from their six matches with Bayern Munich joining them in the last eight.

Lyon — the eight-time winners — were drawn against Bayern.

Should they progress Chelsea or City will then play Barcelona or Wolfsburg in the final four while Arsenal would meet Lyon or Bayern.

The quarter-final first legs will be played over March 18 and 19 with the second legs coming the following week on March 26 and 27.

Analysis

With three WSL sides in the hat and with the complications of clubs not being able to face group-stage opponents in the quarter-finals, an all-English Champions League tie was statistically likely. Sure enough, Chelsea drew City.

With Chelsea and City also set to meet in the WSL and the League Cup final in the second half of March, this means they’ll face one another four times in a row — with the potential for a fifth, should they be drawn together in the FA Cup. City, therefore, are the key factor in whether Chelsea can win all four trophies — not an entirely unrealistic aim.

Arsenal will be relatively content at drawing Real Madrid, who are still yet to progress past the quarter-finals of this competition, although they twice ran Chelsea close in the group stage. Furthermore, Arsenal are on the opposite side of the draw from Barcelona.

Barcelona’s meeting with Wolfsburg is a repeat of the final from two seasons ago — a close-run thing, although the Catalans are strong favourites as they attempt to win the title for the third straight year.

Meanwhile, eight-times winners Lyon, unbeaten in both league and Champions League this season under former Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro, will start as favourites against German champions Bayern, who have been underwhelming in Europe in recent seasons.

UWCL quarter-finals

Real Madrid vs Arsenal

Manchester City vs Chelsea

Wolfsburg vs Barcelona

Bayern Munich vs Olympique Lyonnais

UWCL semi-finals

Wolfsburg or Barcelona vs Manchester City or Chelsea

Real Madrid or Arsenal vs Bayern Munich or Olympique Lyonnais

Women’s Champions League fixtures

Quarter-finals

First leg: March 18, 19

Second leg: March 26, 27

Semi-finals

First leg: April 19, 20

Second leg: April 26, 27

Final

May 24

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, UK Women's Football

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