Barcelona won the Women’s Champions League in 2021 and 2023 (Pau BARRENA)
Women’s Champions League holders Barcelona were placed in a pool with four-time winners Eintracht Frankfurt while English champions Chelsea were matched with Real Madrid in the group-stage draw on Friday.
In Group A, Barcelona were also drawn with Benfica and Rosengard, two teams they faced at the same stage last season. Barcelona won all four games, beating Benfica by an aggregate of 15-2 and the Norwegians by 10-1 over the two matches.
Barcelona, European champions in two of the last three seasons and Spanish campions for the last four years, are top of La Liga F after winning their first five matches, ahead of Real Madrid on goal difference.
As they won their last match away to Atletico Madrid, their line-up contained six players from the Spain team that won the World Cup Final in August, as well as two members of the losing England side.
The only English representative, Chelsea, Super League Champions the last four seasons but losers in their only European final appearance, to Barcelona in 2021, have been drawn by another club chasing a first title, Real Madrid.
Swedes Hacken, who have not progressed past the quarter-finals, and debutantes Paris FC, who upset twice champions Wolfsburg in qualifying round, fill out Group D.
Group C is also made up of big clubs with their noses pressed up against the glass of the Champions League trophy cabinet — Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Roma and Ajax.
In Group B, Lyon, who have won the competition a record eight times, drew Slavia Prague, Saint Poelten and Brann.
Draw for the group stage of this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League, made in Nyon, Switzerland, on Friday:
Group A
Barcelona (ESP), Rosengard (NOR), Benfica (POR), Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)
Group B
Lyon (FRA), Slavia Prague (CZE), St. Poelten (AUT), Brann (NOR)
Group C
Bayern Munich (GER), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Roma (ITA), Ajax (NED)
Group D
Chelsea (ENG), Real Madrid (ESP), BK Hacken FF (SWE) Paris FC (FRA)
pb/ea
