UWCL Briefing: Hamano’s stunner for Chelsea, City youngsters shine, Barcelona hit nine
If gameweek one of the Women's Champions League was all about blockbuster fixtures, the second looked more lopsided. Half of the eight games played were won by a margin of three goals or more, with only one match having one goal separating the two sides.
It showed the tension between the two different qualifying paths. The league qualification path pits the second and third best teams from the top leagues against each other while the champions qualification route focuses on winners from smaller federations.
This means that a lot of big names fall at the qualification stage in the league path while smaller teams make it to the group stage via the champions path and then struggle.
The Athletic picks out the talking points from matchday two.
Manchester City avoid scare
The point of the champions path is to give teams from smaller leagues the opportunity to compete against the best — the name of the competition after all. St Polten might be the best indicator of the long term impact of that. The Austrian champions are participating in their third consecutive UWCL group stage and came close to taking points off Manchester City.
Despite their clear superiority, City are the newbies to the group stages and realising that life can come at you fast in this competition. One week you are playing Barcelona off the pitch in a 2-0 win, then the next you are fighting to get back into a game against St Polten. In the end they came from 2-1 down to win 3-2 and ensure that they did not waste so those three precious points taken from Barcelona.
As was the case against Liverpool at the weekend, City dominated possession without being able to put the game to bed. They had gone 1-0 up through a 25-yard screamer from Australia defender Alanna Kennedy, but lax defending enabled St Polten to score twice through Melanie Brunnthaler and Kamila Dubcova.
However, as City brought on their substitutes and turned the screw, Aoba Fujino and Mary Fowler got them over the line.
Fujino and Fowler are two of six players aged 21 and under that City have used in the Champions League. That is more than any other team, so it is unsurprising that there are still signs they are finding their feet. Academy player Codie Thomas made her debut at right-back a week after Naomi Layzell had impressed in the same position against Barcelona. Laura Blindkilde Brown was another Champions League debutant (although she, like Layzell, had featured in qualifying).
It means those occasional lapses in concentration or connection should be expected. There are risks in playing such inexperienced teams at this point in the competition but it should pay off in the long term.
Bompastor rings changes but Chelsea march on
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor chose to give her younger players a shot as she used her youngest starting XI yet to beat FC Twente 3-1. With an average age of 24.6, there were starts for Aggie Beever-Jones, Maika Hamano, Oriane-Jean Francois, and Wieke Kaptein was back at the club she had joined Chelsea from in the summer. Further minutes came from the bench for Maelys Mpome, 21, and 20-year-old Julia Bartel.
It would have been easy for Bompastor to drill down on a preferred senior starting lineup. For contrast, the average age of her first starting XI, in the season opener against Aston Villa, was 27. However, much like City, there will be in-season benefits of getting the younger players adjusted to the way that she wants them to play. Hamano stood out in particular, thanks to a spectacular 35-yard lob for her first Champions League goal.
Chelsea definitely lost their focus after going 2-0 up within 18 minutes. That is a pattern that would be recognised by anyone who saw them go two goals to the good against Arsenal after 16 minutes. On both occasions, the youth of those involved probably does just about stretch as an excuse. However, in each of their last three matches, they have scored twice in the opening half-hour before failing to keep a clean sheet.
Barcelona hit their stride
It seems ridiculous to say about a team that have scored 34 goals in their past five matches but there were some concerns that Barcelona have not quite been clicking.
A comprehensive 9-0 win over Hammarby, in which Caroline Graham Hansen and Claudia Pina both scored twice, saw them back playing with the fluidity that they have become familiar with.
No doubt the 2-0 loss to City will have heightened possible concerns around the direction of this Barcelona team, but it is easy to forget that they are a team adjusting to life under a new manager. Pere Romeu, 31, had been at the club since 2021 as an assistant to Jonatan Giraldez but this is still his first senior coaching role.
He is facing a number of challenges as his side adjusts to playing with the most direct striker they have used in a while, Ewa Pajor, and works to properly reintegrate Alexia Putellas, who is recapturing her pre-injury form.
It is easy to scoff at their comprehensive Liga F wins but Barcelona know they will be properly judged on their performance in the Champions League, as they attempt to become only the second side to win it in three consecutive years. For that reason, their thrashing of Hammarby will be a boost.
Arsenal make light of Eidevall exit
Renee Slegers took charge of her first match as Arsenal's interim manager as they beat Norwegian side Valerenga 4-1. There was little change made from Slegers, who emphasised post-match the importance of keeping the team unity after a tough week that saw manager Jonas Eidevall resign on Monday. The relief when Emily Fox scored after two minutes was clear.
Unsurprisingly, Arsenal still displayed the issues that had plagued them under Eidevall, with ponderous attacks in combination with defensive frailties.
But Slegers' job is to get them as many wins as possible until a new head coach arrives. The added benefit of Alessia Russo scoring a first goal since their Champions League qualifier against Rangers, and Sweden forward Lina Hurtig returning to the pitch after a 321-day absence, will have only have raised the mood further.
(Top photo: Hamano's shot from distance heads for the back of the net. Harriet Lander – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via )
