Women's Champions League Matchday 3 Wednesday preview

UEFA Women's Champions League group stage Matchday 3 continues on Wednesday with Roma, Lyon and Chelsea defending perfect records and Wolfsburg among those looking to get off the mark.

We preview the action.

Group A

Galatasaray vs Wolfsburg

It is not jarring that Galatasaray, the European debutants who became first Turkish team to get to this stage, began with losses to Lyon and Roma. But it is certainly eyebrow-raising to see twice champions and five-time finalists Wolfsburg start in similar fashion, especially after their spectacular 12-0 aggregate elimination of Fiorentina in round 2 and also considering they beat Bayern 2-0 in the league between the Roma and Lyon defeats.

Wolfsburg, who will become only the third club to 100 UEFA women's competition matches after the second fixture in this double-header, now must make up a six-point gap to the leading pair to avoid a second straight Champions League disappointment after last season's qualifying exit to Paris FC. Galatasaray have already exceeded most expectations for them this season in this competition and now have another chance to test themselves against one of the Champions League's most storied names.

Roma vs Lyon

Roma also led their group a year ago at this stage but eventually were overhauled by Ajax, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern in a tussle that went to the last minutes of Matchday 6. Their start has been even better this season, with Wolfsburg defeated and six different players on target at Galatasaray.

Defeats by Paris on Matchdays 3 and 4 a year ago were the key to Roma's 2023/24 downfall and they will be keen to avoid that fate against French opposition this time. Lyon are the only team yet to concede a goal across the four groups and looked excellent in their 2-0 victory at Wolfsburg, not to mention the 1-0 win against Paris on 3 November with the goal from Tabitha Chawinga, who scored in two games against OL for the capital club last season before her switch, and kept up her current form with a Friday hat-trick at Guingamp.

Group B

Real Madrid vs Twente

Both these teams have beaten Celtic and lost to Chelsea. Madrid impressed even in their 3-2 reverse in London and the 4-0 defeat of Celtic ensured they would not go through a second straight group stage without a win. Linda Caicedo, after a busy summer where she represented Colombia at both the Olympics and the home FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, has sparkled and given Madrid hope that, unlike for the last two seasons, they will not go out in a group involving Chelsea.

Twente have other ideas on their group debut and although they went down 3-1 at home to Chelsea, the Dutch champions recovered from conceding two early goals to more than hold their own. This is now a pivotal test for a young squad in which 25-year-old Kayleigh van Dooren, overall competition top scorer including qualifying with six goals, is the joint-oldest player.

Celtic vs Chelsea 

Celtic play at their men's stadium for the first time in a European game as the Scottish champions welcome the English title holders. Things get no easier after the losses to Twente and Madrid as Celtic continue to gain experience in their group debut.

On maximum points under new coach Sonia Bompastor, Chelsea face Scottish opposition for the first time since their debut Champions League games against a Glasgow City side featuring future Blues favourite Erin Cuthbert in the 2015/16 round of 32. Chelsea have won all eight competitive games since Bompastor arrived, scoring 29 goals, though Celtic had a Sunday boost with a penalty shoot-out win against Glasgow City in the Scottish League Cup quarter-finals.