It is often labelled ‘the best league in the world’ but the fact the Women’s Super League has just one representative in Monday’s draw for the Women’s Champions League knockout stages, fewer than France, Germany and Spain, is bringing that claim into question.
Left to fly the flag for the WSL alone, Arsenal will face two-time champions Wolfsburg in March’s quarter-finals, while Bayern Munich face Paris St-Germain, Juventus meet Lyon and Real Madrid take on their Spanish rivals Barcelona, in a strong quarter-final line-up that looks set to deliver four excellent ties for neutrals.
But conspicuous by their absence are WSL champions Chelsea, who suffered a shock exit at the group stages thanks to a humbling 4-0 loss away to Wolfsburg last Thursday, after Manchester City were dumped out in the second qualifying round in September, leaving Arsenal as England’s sole survivors for the quarter-finals. And even Arsenal’s progression came by the skin of their teeth in unconvincing style, as they were resoundingly beaten 4-1 by Hoffenheim – the side that finished third in Germany last term.
It’s consistent with the longer-term trend: The reality is, no English side has won the competition since 2007, the year of Arsenal’s quadruple, which remains the only time any British women’s club has conquered Europe.
In contrast, German sides have won a record nine titles, while French giants Lyon have seven all to themselves and Sweden can boast twice as many European crowns as England, as well as producing five runners-up. There have been several ‘nearly’ moments for English sides, with Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea and Birmingham City all reaching semi-finals during the WSL era, as well as Chelsea’s run to last year’s final, but why is the continent’s ultimate prize so tough for England’s elite to win?
Historically, the answer has primarily been because German sides invested far more in their women’s teams over a lengthy period, leading to their near-total dominance of women’s football earlier in this century. That, together with the initial strength of the Scandinavian women’s game too, has always meant England has been playing catch-up. But the hope was that things were changing, given that the WSL has been a completely full-time league since 2018.
Some have pointed to the fact that English sides therefore face tough games every single week and a higher chance of burnout, whereas the semi-professional status of most of seven-time champions Lyon’s domestic opponents in France puts a lower strain and workload on their players in between Champions League fixtures. While that may be true, I’d argue that playing more regular games against full-time sides should be a help, not a hindrance, because it aids teams to improve in the long-run.
Fixture congestion is another factor, and the timing of the rearranged Women’s FA Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea this month – coming straight off the back of international fixtures – was criticised by Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, as her side began a run of four games in 11 days. However, Wolfsburg also played four times over that period, as did the vast majority of European sides.
Put bluntly, a key reason for last week’s poor results was dreadful defending. Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim exposed significant frailties in the backlines of the WSL’s top two, even though Chelsea and Arsenal were missing key personnel because of injury or Covid.. English sides are going to have to become much harder to score against if they want to topple free-scoring sides like Barcelona, PSG or Lyon.
