The phase prior to the group stage of the Champions League He once again killed one of his great victims: PSG. Last year teams like Wolfsburg and Arsenal fell by the wayside and this season it was the turn of the Parisian team, which could not pass the tie against Juventus Turin. He also left the sparkles of Giulia Dragoni with Roma, who scored a double and gave an assist in the second leg win against Servette (2-7) and the enthusiasm of Mariona Caldentey, who made her debut as a scorer with Arsenal. Besides, There was also another surprise with Hammarby’s comeback against Benfica, getting the Portuguese team out of the group stage.
The Champions also left Wolfsburg’s reunion with the group stage after being eliminated in the second round last season and also the return of Tabea Sellner – her current surname is her married name, she was previously Tabea Wassmuth – after a year and a half of leave due to pregnancy and He did it with a goal. The German forward was the second top scorer in the competition in the 21/22 season with ten goals, being surpassed only by Alexia Putellas, who broke the tie with Tabea in the final with her goal against Olympique Lyon, despite the defeat.
Manchester City, who won against Paris FC – a team that last year eliminated Arsenal and Wolfsburg in this qualifying phase – by a resounding 8-0 aggregate and will debut in the group stage for the first time since changing to the current format of the Champions League with group stage, It is also the first time that there are three English teams in the phase. In England we also experienced Arsenal’s comeback against Hacken, who arrived in London with a 1-0 lead, but Lia Walti, with a great goal from distance, and Mariona Caldentey, making her debut as a goalscorer with Arsenal, completed the comeback that ended with a 4-0 in favor of the ‘Gunner’ team, a 4-1 in the aggregate tie.
Real Madrid returns to the group stage after beating Sporting de Portugal (3-1) in a match, the second leg, that started uphill for the locals. Ana Capeta put the visitors ahead after five minutes, but Sandie Toletti scored the first of her double two minutes in to tie the game. Already in the second half, the Frenchwoman scored again to make the game 2-1 after receiving a filtered pass – as she did in her first goal – from Caroline Weir. The French player achieved her second double as a Real Madrid player. It is also Alba Redondo debuted as a scorer, who scored the third goal for the white team with a great goal after a powerful shot from the edge of the area that entered the top corner.
Two surprises as shocks
One of the first surprises came with Hammarby’s comeback against Benfica, which received the Swedish team at home with a 2-1 advantage and as clear favorites to be in the group stage after being one of the revelation teams of the year past. Hammarby, who achieved historic qualification for the first time in the group stage, won 0-2 in Lisbon and will be in the group stage draw tomorrow (1:00 p.m., peninsular time).
The second “surprise” came with the elimination of PSG. Surprise in quotes since in the first leg Juventus left the tie on track with the first leg 3-1 – leaving Mary Earps as the first goalkeeper of a French club to concede three goals in the Champions League after signing for the Parisian team -, an advantage that was in charge of increasing as soon as the second leg began when in the second minute Sofia Cantore scored the first for the Italian team. Leuchter closed the gap from the penalty spot but Barbara Bonansea scored the final 1-2 that left the Parisian team out of the group stage.
The draw for the group stage will take place tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. peninsular time. The teams that did not have to play the qualifying phase were Barça – as current champion and winner of League F -, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Olympique Lyonnais. The draw will divide the 16 teams into four groups of four teams each before the new phase begins on October 8 and ends on December 18.
