In three weeks’ time, Cardiff City will know who their first opponents will be in this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Barcelona were crowned champions for the third time in their history as they defeated Lyon in Bilbao, but the next edition of the competition is about to begin, with the final being held at the Estádio José Alvalade, home of Sporting Lisbon.
For the Bluebirds, they enter in the first qualifying round of the champions path. They will be an unseeded team for the initial semi-final draw and will have to face off against a seeded team.
We take a closer look at just some of the teams that could be lying in wait for Iain Darbyshire’s team.
Benfica (Portugal)
Perhaps the best side in the first qualifying round are Portuguese giants Benfica.
The Eagles have really come into their own in the past couple of years, putting together a squad of young players with high potential. That decision has really paid off, as they’ve won four consecutive league titles, along with one Portuguese Cup and three Portuguese League Cups. They were, however, pushed all the way by Sporting Lisbon this year, and pipped their city rivals to the title by two points.
But what of that young squad, and who are the danger players? Well, striker Kika Nazareth finished as the league’s top scorer, and has already been linked with Chelsea and Barcelona. Fellow forward Jéssica Silva has played in the NWSL, while midfielder Andreia Norton is the team’s creative force.
Benfica are also a very experienced European side. Since group stages became part of the UWCL three years ago, the Eagles have reached that stage every single time. In the first two seasons they finished third in the group, but last time out reached the knockout stages for the first time, pipping Eintracht Frankfurt to second place, and even managed to pick up a 4-4 draw with Barcelona. However, they were drawn against Lyon in the quarter-final and lost 6-2 on aggregate.
FC Twente (Netherlands)
Another team who are serial winners in their own country are Dutch side FC Twente.
Based in the city of Enschede, Twente have been the most successful side in the history of women’s football in the Netherlands. With nine league titles, including winning this year’s Eredivisie, no other team has won more than them, including giants Ajax. Add to that three Dutch Cups and two Dutch Super Cups, and you realise just how driven this Twente team are.
The team also boasts a lot of talent, and it isn’t surprising. Twente have produced so many talented Dutch players. Kerstin Casparij is now at Manchester City, Daphne van Domselaar is Aston Villa’s number one, while Lynn Wilms is a regular for Wolfsburg. Looking at this current crop, the danger players are certainly Kayleigh van Dooren, Elena Dhont, and Marisa Olislagers.
It feels like the only thing this Twente team haven’t achieved is reaching the Champions League group stage. On two occasions they reached the final stage before the groups but lost out to Benfica the first time and BK Hacken the second. Before the competition revamp, they did reach the round of 16 stage three times but were dumped out by Barcelona and Wolfsburg.
Vålerenga (Norway)
We all know Scandinavia has been at the forefront of women’s football for a number of years, and Norwegian champions Vålerenga are one of the best.
Having floated around in midtable for many seasons in the Toppserien, the Royal Blues have really accelerated over the past five years. In that time span, the team have won two league titles, came second twice, and won the Norwegian Cup on two occasions. Vålerenga are currently in the middle of their season, and currently find themselves second and three points behind leaders Rosenborg.
The Norwegian national team is managed by former Wales manager Gemma Grainger, and she has routinely picked two players from Vålerenga in her squads, a sign of how strong this team is. Defender Thea Bjelde and striker Karina Sævik are in there, while fellow forward Mimmi Löfwenius has been selected for previous camps.
Vålerenga have been in the Champions League in two of the past three seasons, with the 2022-23 edition the one they missed out on. They’ve been close to the group stages, but haven’t been able to make that jump yet, getting knocked out by BK Hacken in 2021, and by Real Madrid last year.
Anderlecht (Belgium)
Another glamour tie that could face Cardiff City comes in the form of Anderlecht.
Like their male counterparts, Anderlecht have dominated Belgian football for a number of years. The Purple and White have won the Belgian League for an astonishing seven years on the trot, but perhaps rather surprisingly, have only won the Belgian Cup once in that time.
The squad consists of a number of players involved in the Belgian national team. Defender Laura Deloose has 74 caps for her country, Tine de Caigny 80 caps (and 38 goals), while Deloose’s partner at the back, Laura de Neve, has 59 appearances. In short, this is an experienced team at club and international level.
For all their domestic success, Anderlecht have failed to make an impression in Europe. In the past three seasons, they’ve lost in the final round of the first qualifying round. The first time they lost to Osijek, then on penalties to KuPS of Finland, and last year, were dumped out by Brann. They will want to go further than ever before this time around.
The draw for the first qualifying round will take place on Thursday, July 5th. The semi-final games will take place on September 4th, with the final and third-place playoffs occurring on September 7th.
Every team Cardiff City could face
Benfica (Portugal), Farum or Brondby (Denmark), St. Polten (Austria), BIIK Shymkent (Kazakhstan), FC Twente (Netherlands), Vllanzia (Albania), Vålerenga (Norway), Vorskla Poltava (Ukraine), Apollon (Cyprus), Anderlecht (Belgium), Valur (Iceland), SFK Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ferencvaros (Hungary), Servette (Switzerland), Mura (Slovenia), Gintra (Lithuania), Dinamo-BSUPC (Belarus), PAOK (Greece), Breznica Pljevlja (Montenegro), Racing FC Union (Luxembourg), Mitrovica (Kosovo), KuPS (Finland)
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