The draw for the 2024/25 UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage took place on Friday, with FC Bayern Women placed in Group C alongside Arsenal, Juventus and Valerenga. The fixture list will be confirmed on Saturday, 28 September. Director Bianca Rech, who travelled to Nyon for the draw, said: “It’s a challenging group with attractive opponents who will mean exciting games. But our goal is clearly to progress to the last 16. We’re looking forward to the game.”
Bayern’s opponents for the 2024/25 UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage.
“Can challenge the opponents”
Head coach Alexander Straus: “We’ll closely analyse the opponents. Like in previous years, we’ve got the toughest opponents from a few of the pots. But we know where our place is and can now challenge the opponents. For me, Arsenal are the favourites in the group, but we’ve been able to beat them at home before and are now better than two years ago. Juventus will also be a hard fight. We had a draw against them in pre-season but should’ve won the game. Juventus were very good against PSG yesterday and have been so far this season. I obviously know a bit about Valerenga from my friends in Norway and am excited. Now we’ll focus on what we can control. And draws aren’t a part of luck.”
Captain Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir: “I think we’ve been handed a tough group. We’ve been drawn against good opponents, big names with big ambitions – just like us. There will be hard games, many of them on an equal footing. But we can also look forward to big clashes with great atmospheres. That’s what the Champions League is about. The goal is clearly to reach the knockout stages and improve compared to last year. I’m optimistic we can do it.”
Bayern beat Arsenal at the Allianz Arena in the 2022/23 campaign.
Arsenal again
Bayern’s rival from Pot 2 sees them come up against the team that knocked them out in the quarter-finals two years ago. A 1-0 victory in the first leg at the Allianz Arena wasn’t enough in the end, as a 2-0 defeat at the Emirates in London saw the Munich Frauen miss out on the semi-finals. This year is a return to the European stage for Arsenal after they surprisingly missed out in qualifying last season. Having finished third in England’s Women’s Super League, the Gunners again had to come through qualifiers but were comfortable 4-1 aggregate winners against Häcken of Sweden. Unlike their Bayern counterparts, the 15-time champions of England have lifted the Champions League before, but it came all the way back in 2006/07.
Swift Juventus reunion
Bayern faced Juventus in a pre-season friendly in Unterhaching only a few weeks ago, but now the pair will meet for a competitive fixture at the top level. The five-time champions of Italy knocked out French giants Paris Saint-Germain in qualifying. The Turin ladies reached the quarter-finals in 2022.
Debut for Valerenga
The Norwegian club are making their debut in the Champions League group stage. It will also be the first competitive encounter with the two-time domestic champions from Norway and a first visit back home for Alexander Straus as Bayern head coach.
Bayern faced Juventus in a pre-season friendly in Unterhaching this summer.
2024/25 group stage draw
Group A:
Lyon
Wolfsburg
Roma
Galatasaray
Group B:
Chelsea
Real Madrid
Twente
Celtic
Group C:
Bayern Munich
Arsenal
Juventus
Valerenga
Group D:
Barcelona
Manchester City
St. Pölten
Hammarby
Dates for group stage
Matchday 1: 8/9 October 2024
Matchday 2: 16/17 October 2024
Matchday 3: 12/13 November 2024
Matchday 4: 20/21 November 2024
Matchday 5: 11/12 December 2024
Matchday 6: 17/18 December 2024
The final of this year’s UEFA Women’s Champions League will be played in Lisbon on either 23, 24 or 25 May 2025. The two-legged quarter-finals are scheduled for 18/19 and 26/27 March, while the semi-finals are planned for 19/20 and 26/27 April.
Watch episode 3 of FC Bayern Women’s new behind-the-scenes documentary:
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