Chelsea clinch title, Lyon in form
Monday, October 5, 2015
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Chelsea warmed up for their European debut with a first English league title while Lyon look in ominous form as we gauge the form of the leading contenders.
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The UEFA Women's Champions League round of 32 first legs are played on Wednesday and Thursday after a busy weekend where Chelsea sealed their first English title, Lyon kept on scoring but Wolfsburg stumbled. We look at how the leading contenders stand in their domestic championships.
England: Chelsea are champions
A year on from throwing away the title on the final day, Chelsea went into the last FA Women's Super League games two points clear of Manchester City. This time, in front of a club-record crowd of 2,710 including John Terry, Chelsea made no mistake, beating Sunderland 4-0 with Ji So-Yun's opener followed by two from Fran Kirby and Gemma Davison's clincher. Chelsea, who completed the domestic double, make their UEFA competition debut against Glasgow City on Thursday.
We have reaction from Chelsea manager Emma Hayes and defender Claire Rafferty in the audio player above.
City did finish second with a 2-1 defeat of Notts County and will make a European debut in 2016/17. Liverpool, who travel to Brescia on Wednesday, not only missed out on a third straight title but ended seventh in the eight-team league, losing 4-2 at relegated Bristol Academy, who just seven months ago played Frankfurt in the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Sweden: Rosengård close in
Nataša Andonova made it seven goals in 11 matches since joining Rosengård in the summer as she scored twice on Friday to secure a 2-0 victory over Umeå that keeps alive the Malmo club's hopes of a third straight championship. Leaders Eskilstuna United lost 1-0 last week at Piteå, who went on to win 3-2 at Rosengård's fellow European entrants Örebro, down in sixth.
On Sunday, Eskilstuna overcame Mallbacken 2-0 to stay a point ahead of Rosengård with two games left. Linköping, who play Eskilstuna next week, are one point further back, two clear of Piteå.
France: Lyon do down Paris
The key result of the season so far happened a week ago when champions Lyon won 5-0 at home to the team that knocked them out of Europe in the round of 16 last term, Paris Saint-Germain, Ada Hegerberg getting a hat-trick.
On Sunday, Paris bounced back to thrash Nîmes 8-0 while Lyon overcame Saint-Étienne 5-0 and have now scored 56 goals without reply in their last eight league outings, including the final three of 2014/15. However, Lyon will be without injured Élodie Thomis and Claire Lavogez for their tie against Medyk Konin.
Germany: Wolfsburg struggle
UEFA Women's Champions League holders FFC Frankfurt and German champions Bayern München both look good for their European returns, each prevailing 2-0 away on Sunday to make it four out of four in the Frauen-Bundesliga this season. However, the same cannot be said for two-time European champions Wolfsburg, who lost 1-0 at Bayern last week and then on Friday were held 2-2 by Freiburg, conceding twice in added time.
Norway: LSK almost there
LSK Kvinner, who have a tough tie with Zürich, missed the chance to retain the title with three matches to spare on Saturday when they were restricted to a 1-1 by Røa. Still, the draw ensured the Lillestrom side will return to Europe in 2016/17 and they hold an 11-point lead over Avaldsnes, who have four games left.
Russia: Tight tussle
There are four matchdays remaining and the top four are separated by only two points. Leaders and reigning champions Zvezda-2005 lost 2-1 at Kubanochka on Saturday, allowing Rossiyanka to close the gap to one point. Ryazan could have gone top but were beaten 3-2 at home by Russian's other European entrants Zorkiy, leaving both two points behind Zvezda.
Denmark: Veje returns
With every team in the eight-sided regular season having played each other once to date, European challengers Brøndby and Fortuna Hjørring are dead level with five wins and two draws from seven fixtures.
Brøndby have re-signed Katrine Veje from NWSL runners-up Seattle Reign, the forward admitting she missed "my boyfriend, my family and my friends". However, Veje will not face Slavia Praha in the round of 32 as she will be on holiday until the international break in late October.
Scotland: Glasgow on brink
Glasgow City's recent continental runs, including to last term's quarter-finals, have earned Scotland a second European place for 2016/17 and ahead of travelling to Chelsea they effectively clinched a tenth straight league title with a 2-0 triumph at second-placed Hibernian, who themselves are assured of a UEFA competition return next season.
Italy: Brescia boosted
Italy's two European entrants met in the Italian Super Cup last weekend, when Brescia pipped Verona 3-2 on penalties following a 0-0 draw. Verona, who take on Austrian champions Spratzern on Wednesday, begin their Serie A title defence on 17 October.
Other titles decided
Crowned champions earlier this summer to book 2016/17 European slots are round of 32 contenders PK-35 Vantaa of Finland (who tackle Rosengård) and BIIK-Kazygurt of Kazakhstan (who play Barcelona). Zvezda's opponents Stjarnan conceded the Icelandic title to Breidablik.