Women's Champions League Matchday 4 preview

Three more quarter-finalists could be confirmed on Thursday, with Arsenal, Bayern and Manchester City looking to join Chelsea, Lyon and Real Madrid in sealing their spot in the final eight on Matchday 4 of the UEFA Women's Champions League group stage.

We preview the action.

Thursday's games

Group C

Vålerenga vs Bayern

Bayern announced at the weekend that goalkeeper Maria Luisa Grohs had been diagnosed with a malignant tumour. She will be out for the foreseeable future to undergo treatment and has extended her contract until June 2026.

On the pitch, Bayern stayed perfect on Matchday 3 with their 3-0 win against Vålerenga and another victory would book a quarter-final place provided Juventus do not then get three points at Arsenal. Pernille Harder remains group stage top scorer after getting her fifth in three games, and Bayern have looked determined to avoid a second straight exit at this stage, even as they have suffered unusually mixed results in the Bundesliga.

Vålerenga are still searching for a first point on their group debut and if they pick up fewer points than Arsenal on Matchday 4, the Norwegian champions (who finished the season on Saturday 15 points clear) will be unable to match the feat of compatriots Brann in reaching the quarter-finals last season. Coach Nils Lexerød said: "We've played two very tough away games: first Arsenal and then Bayern. Now, we have two home games against the same opponents. We have learned from those two games, and the ambition is to give them a really tough test in Oslo."

Arsenal vs Juventus

There has been quite a transformation in fortunes since Arsenal lost 5-2 at Bayern on Matchday 1, as their 4-1 defeat of Vålerenga and then last Tuesday's brilliant 4-0 win at Juventus has left them potentially a home victory away from, like Lyon, an unprecedented 16th quarter-final (provided Vålerenga do not beat Bayern). Both those group wins have come in under the caretaker charge of Renée Slegers, along with a domestic revival, and Frida Maanum, Mariona Caldentey and Caitlin Foord, all on target at Juve, have been showing their best attacking form.

Juventus coach Max Canzi said the home loss was "a defeat that hurts" and another defeat at Arsenal (where they were beaten 1-0 in the group stage two years ago) would end the Italian side's hopes, unless Bayern lose to Vålerenga. Juve might take some inspiration from what happened in 2021/22, where a surprise 2-0 Matchday 4 win at Wolfsburg transformed their fortunes, followed by a hard-earned 0-0 draw at Chelsea, who Juventus eventually pipped to second place.

Group D

Hammarby vs Manchester City 

Hammarby suffered defeat in Manchester on Matchday 3, but the narrow 2-0 loss to City was a big step forward from the previous 9-0 reverse at Barcelona. That will fuel their hopes of a second group home win in front of what is sure to be a big and vociferous crowd at Stockholm Arena.

City, though, now sit on a maximum nine points and they will be through to their first quarter-final since 2020/21 provided they avoid defeat in Sweden. That the goals at home to Hammarby came from young talents Laura Blindkilde Brown and Aoba Fujino shows the strength in depth of a City squad currently missing Vivianne Miedema but still boasting the likes of Khadija Shaw, Lauren Hemp, Jill Roord, Jess Park and Mary Fowler.

St. Pölten vs Barcelona

It was 7-0 to the holders when these sides met last Tuesday in Barcelona, St. Pölten not helped by a lengthy injury list depriving them of some important players, not least in defence. They remain without a point and must win to stay in quarter-final contention, but St. Pölten's key objective at their temporary European home, Vienna's Viola Park, will be to build on the promising aspects of the first game, after which coach Celia Brancao said: "We defended well for 60 minutes."

Having suffered a rare loss with their opening 2-0 defeat at Man City, Barcelona have been looking their usual selves ever since, ten different players sharing the 16 goals totalled in the wins against Hammarby and St. Pölten, in a season when they passed the 50 goal mark in 11 competitive games, and on Saturday eased to a 4-0 victory at Real Madrid. They cannot mathematically clinch progress in Austria, but Barcelona will be keen to keep City in their sights ahead of what they hope will turn out to be a first-place decider on Matchday 6 at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.