Women's Champions League preview: Paris Saint-Germain vs WFC Kharkiv

Paris Saint-Germain are looking to add to the three points they picked up in their opening group game against WFC Kharkiv, who lost by a single goal last time out.

• The French side were made to work for their 2-0 Matchday 1 victory away to Breidablik, the first Icelandic side to reach a major group stage in UEFA club football. Paris, who reached last season's semi-finals and have twice been UEFA Women's Champions League runners-up, eventually broke their hosts' resistance through Lea Khelifi’s close-range finish and Grace Geyoro's late strike.

• Paris could face a similar test against Kharkiv, who were beaten 1-0 on their last-16 debut by European newcomers Real Madrid.

Ones to watch: Paris

Marie-Antoinette Katoto
• The 22-year-old could not open her group stage account against Breidablik, despite mustering a club-high five attempts – hitting the woodwork once – with three of those on target.

• The Paris youth product, who joined the Les Rouge-et-Bleu at the age of 12, topped the Division 1 Féminine scoring charts in both 2018/19 and 2019/20, but last season's tally of 21 was a goal short of Bordeaux's Khadija Shaw.

• The forward also finished as runner-up to Ada Hegerberg in the division’s golden boot race in 2017/18.

• Katoto scored her first international hat-trick last month in France's 10-0 win away to Greece in 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying.

Grace Geyoro
• The 24-year-old scored only her second UEFA Women's Champions League goal in the Matchday 1 victory against Breidablik, both coming in her last four appearances. She also struck in last season's 2-1 quarter-final second-leg win at Lyon.

• The midfielder, a product of Les Parisiennes' youth system, made her senior debut in October 2014 and her 100th league appearance last month.

• Geyoro, who was made Paris captain ahead of this season, had her penalty saved in the 7-6 shoot-out defeat against Division 1 Féminine rivals Lyon in the 2017 UEFA Women's Champions League final.

• She was part of France's youth sides that clinched the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in 2012 and the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship four years later – scoring in the 2-1 final success against Spain, along with Paris team-mate Katoto.

Sandy Baltimore
• The 21-year-old scored her only UEFA Women's Champions League goal last season in the 2-0 round of 32 win against Górnik Leczna, just her fourth start in the competition.

• The forward featured in all but one of her side's 22 league matches last term as they scooped their maiden Division 1 Féminine title, chipping in with eight goals.

• Baltimore made her first Paris appearance in October 2016, just over a year after joining the club's youth system.

• The French international, who made her debut for the senior side late last year, scored in the 2-1 final win against Germany at the 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Women's Championship.

Ones to watch: WFC Kharkiv

Olha Ovdiychuk
• The 27-year-old scored in all four of Kharkiv's UEFA Women's Champions League qualifiers this season, a total of five goals.

• The forward clinched her seventh Ukrainian title winners' medal with Kharkiv in 2020/21, to go with the six she collected in seven years before leaving for Atlético de Madrid in 2019.

• Ovdiychuk is in her second spell with Kharkiv, rejoining in the summer of 2020 following a season at Atlético.

• The Ukrainian international has been the top scorer in the Ukrainian Women's League on four occasions, most recently in 2018/19 when she hit 30 goals.

Birgül Sadıkoğlu
• The 21-year-old has started all five of Kharkiv's UEFA Women’s Champions League matches so far this term, scoring in the 4-1 qualifying round 1 win against Pomurje Beltinci on 21 August.

• The attacker joined the club in February this year, having spent seven seasons playing in the Turkish league.

• The Turkish international began her career with hometown club Eskişehirspor, with whom she was relegated from the top division in 2015/16. She spent three campaigns in the third tier before returning to play in the top flight with Konak Belediyespor in 2019.

Lyubov Shmatko
• The 27-year-old has played every minute of Kharkiv's UEFA Women’s Champions League campaign this season, qualifiers included.

• The defender returned to the Ukrainian Women's League earlier this year following a spell with ZFK Minsk of Belarus.

• Shmatko has won league titles in both her native Ukraine, with first club Legenda Chernigiv, and in Belarus.

Key stats

• Paris have lost only one of their last 13 UEFA Women's Champions League home games.

• The French side have only failed to score in two of their last 12 UEFA Women's Champions League matches and have found the net at least once in the first half in seven of their last eight games in the competition.

• This will be the first time that Kharkiv have played a UEFA Women's Champions League match in France.

• Kharkiv have won all three European fixtures outside Ukraine this season.

• Kharkiv have failed to score in just one of their last 13 UEFA Women's Champions League matches outside their own country.