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Chelsea clinched an automatic place in the Women’s Champions League quarter-finals by coming from behind to stun Wolfsburg and avoid having to contest February’s playoffs.
Sam Kerr won the game with her 20th Champions League goal, heading in Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s cross. Chelsea survived a late scare when the German side struck the crossbar in the 94th minute, but will now contest the last eight in March.
Manchester United, who were already guaranteed at least a playoff spot before kick-off, also enjoyed a memorable away night as they beat Juventus to claim one of the top seeding positions for the playoffs.
Jess Park’s fine, first-half strike into the top corner in Turin was enough to give Marc Skinner’s side victory and propel them up to sixth in their debut campaign in Europe.
With all nine matches in this final round of league phase fixtures kicking off simultaneously on Wednesday, Chelsea’s night began disappointingly as the two-time former champions Wolfsburg capitalised on some sloppy defending from the English league winners to take an early lead through Alexandra Popp’s driven finish.
Chelsea rallied, though, and a determined Lucy Bronze leapt highest to nod them level from a set piece before half-time, and Alyssa Thompson struck a post for the London club after the break before Kerr’s header won it.
“It’s never easy to come here so it’s a great result, especially because we wanted to qualify directly for the top four. We did that,” said the Chelsea manager, Sonia Bompastor.
“The performance was tough, especially in the first half. We were under pressure because Wolfsburg came at us with a lot of physicality. That made it difficult for us to perform. In the second half we did enough to score two goals and win the game.
“We need to stay focused until the end. Something that we need to improve on a little bit is game management,” Bompastor admitted. “When you are winning 2-1 and Wolfsburg are trying to put you under pressure, then you need to react differently to how we did.”
Women's Champions League: playoff paths
ShowChelsea finished third in the league phase to earn a direct quarter-final place, along with Barcelona, Lyon and Bayern Munich. Arsenal and Manchester United finished just outside the top four and are the top two playoff seeds; one team will face Atlético Madrid, the other will play Leuven in the playoffs.
Real Madrid, Juventus, Wolfsburg and Paris FC are grouped together; the draw to determine the fixtures takes place on Thursday. The playoff winners' quarter-final opponents will also be set in the draw (12pm GMT) – either Arsenal or United could face Chelsea in the last eight.
Playoffs: 10/12 & 17/19 Feb
(11) Atlético or Leuven (12) v (5) Arsenal or Man Utd (6)
(9) Wolfsburg or Paris FC (10) v (7) Real Madrid or Juventus (8)
(12) Leuven or Atlético (11) v (6) Man Utd or Arsenal (5)
(10) Paris FC or Wolfsburg (9) v (8) Juventus or Real Madrid (7)
Quarter-finals: 23/25 Mar & 31 Mar/2 Apr
Atlético/Leuven/Arsenal/Man Utd v (3) Chelsea or Bayern (4)
Wolfsburg/Paris FC/Real/Juventus v (1) Barcelona or Lyonnes (2)
Leuven/Atlético/Man Utd/Arsenal v Bayern (4) or Chelsea (3)
Paris FC/Wolfsburg/Juventus/Real v Lyonnes (2) or Barcelona (1)
The draw for the knockout phase will be made on Thursday, mapping out the pathway for all 12 remaining clubs hoping to reach May’s final in Oslo.
The top two – Barcelona and OL Lyonnes – know it will not be possible for them to meet before the final, while Chelsea, in third, and Bayern Munich, in fourth, will also be in opposite halves of the draw and cannot meet either of the top two before the semi-finals. United join Arsenal as the top two seeds for the playoff round.
