Cardiff Metropolitan University Ladies will travel to Kharkiv to play in the qualifying round of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Ukranian champions WFC Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv have been chosen to host the week-long qualification process.
They will also play Maltese champions Birkirkara and Romanian champions CFF Olimpia Cluj.
Matches are to be played in Kharkiv on the 7th, 10th and 13th August. They will play against Romanian side Olimpia Cluj first, before playing hosts Zhtyobud Kharkiv, then finishing off their group against Birkirkara.
Cardiff Metropolitan University will either have to top the group or be one of the two best runners-up, with the best record against the sides first and third in their section, meaning results against bottom sides will not count. If they qualify for the next round, they will be drawn into the Round of 32, which is a two-legged knockout phase.
WFC Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv have won the most titles in the Ukranian Women’s League, winning it six times this decade.
Interestingly, the Ukranian Women’s League has two teams from the same club, with Kharkiv also having a reserve/secondary side in the top flight. Zhytlobud-2 Kharkiv won the division back in 2016, as the first team finished runners-up.
Kharkiv won their division by fourteen points the last season, scoring 110 goals and conceding just four in their eighteen league fixtures.
The Romanian SuperLiga has been running for the last eight years. It consists of ten teams, just like the Welsh Premier Women’s League. Last season, Olimpia Cluj won all eighteen of their games, scoring 109 times and conceding just seven times.
Birkirkara plays in a six-division league with eighteen games to play. They won sixteen games, drawing once and losing once. They scored 85 times, as well as conceding just five.
The Archers won the Welsh Premier Women’s League last season, finishing ahead of Swansea City Ladies by five points.
It’ll be the fourth time that the Archers compete in the Champions League. Their last game against the Polish champions KKPK Medyk Konin.
(Featured Image: Jordan Jones)
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