BK Hacken’s Josefine Rybrink, bottom, challenges Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius during the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Second Round Qualifying, Second Leg match at the Mangata Pay UK Stadium, Borehamwood, England, Thursday Sept. 26, 2024. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)
Celtic’s Kelly Clark, left, celebrates with fans after a women’s Champions League soccer match against Vorskla Poltava at the Albert Bartlett Stadium in Airdrie, Scotland, Thursday Sept. 26, 2024. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)
Tempers flare between Vorskla Poltava’s Anastasiya Kumeda, centre left, and Celtic’s Natalie Ross during the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Second Round Qualifying, Second Leg match between Celtic and Vorskla Poltava at the Albert Bartlett Stadium in Airdrie, Scotland, Thursday Sept. 26, 2024. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)
Manchester City’s Aoba Fujino scores their side’s third goal of the game from the penalty spot during the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Second Round Qualifying, Second Leg match between Manchester City and Paris FC at the Manchester City Academy Stadium in Manchester, England, Thursday Sept. 26, 2024. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)
European champion Barcelona gets Man City in group stage of Women’s Champions League
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Two-time defending champion Barcelona will play Manchester City in a Women’s Champions League group after the 16-team draw on Friday.
BK Hacken’s Josefine Rybrink, bottom, challenges Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius during the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Second Round Qualifying, Second Leg match at the Mangata Pay UK Stadium, Borehamwood, England, Thursday Sept. 26, 2024. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Two-time defending champion Barcelona will play Manchester City in a Women’s Champions League group after the 16-team draw on Friday.
Barcelona and Man City also will face St. Pölten and Hammarby in the traditional round-robin groups that start on Oct. 8.
Lyon, the record eight-time European champion, landed in a tough group with Wolfsburg, the titleholder in 2013 and ’14, Roma and debutant Galatasaray.
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Juventus eliminated Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday in the second qualifying round and was drawn into a group with Bayern Munich, Arsenal and VÃ¥lerenga.
Chelsea was top-seeded in a group with Real Madrid, Twente and Celtic.
This is the final season of the group stage in the Women’s Champions League before it adopts the new that the men’s competition changed to this season.
Games finish on Dec. 18 and the top two in each group advances to the knockout stage.
Two-leg quarterfinals are in March, the semifinals are in April and the final is at Sporting Lisbon’s stadium on May 25.
The competition has a total of at least 24 million euros ($26.8 million) with 11.4 million euros ($12.7 million) shared between the 16 group-stage clubs.
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