UEFA Women's Champions League: Players to watch in the quarter-final first legs

The UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-finals begin with the first legs on Tuesday and Wednesday. We highlight four players looking to get their teams off to winning starts.

Marie Alidou (Benfica)

Alidou's career had taken her to France, Sweden, Spain, Norway and Austria before she joined Famalicão in 2022, helping them reach the Portuguese Cup final and earning herself a transfer to Benfica. Moving into a more attacking role to replace Arsenal-bound compatriot Cloé Lacasse, the Canadian midfielder has thrived ever since, particularly in the Champions League, with eight goals in Benfica's run to the quarter-finals and more than 20 across all competitions this term.

The first Portuguese side to reach the last eight, Benfica must now face the might of Lyon, but Alidou has already shown her ability to score against Europe's elite, hitting the winner in the Eagles' vital 1-0 group stage defeat of Frankfurt and a double in their dramatic 4-4 draw with Barcelona. Her understanding with ex-Lyon forward Jéssica Silva and fit-again star Kika Nazareth has made Benfica a danger to the very best, and Alidou's instinct for a well-timed run and her clinical finishing are wedded to an ability to operate deeper, as befits a career midfielder.

Marie-Antoinette Katoto (Paris Saint-Germain)

Spearheading the attack is, of course, no novelty for Katoto, who has multiple 20-goal seasons under her belt. Even so, another prolific campaign was not a given for the Paris forward after she missed the whole of 2022/23 through injury. Katoto returned in September, and by the time the Champions League group stage began, she was already back in vintage form, as she proved by scoring home and away against Roma and notching a double in the 3-1 defeat of Ajax, helping Paris recover from a slow start to top their group.

Now Häcken await, and Katoto will be hoping for a similar outcome to the last time she faced a Swedish club, when she struck in both legs of Paris's 2018/19 round of 16 tie against a Linköping team that included Alidou. Häcken posted three clean sheets in the group stage, but Katoto is difficult to keep quiet.

Marit Bratberg Lund (Brann)

Brann only made their European debut last season but now find themselves in the Champions League last eight – and preparing to take on holders Barcelona. Left wing-back Lund has been integral to the club's rise to success, both in her defensive role and also further forward, with her tally of 11 league goals in 2023 bettered by just three other players in the Norwegian Toppserien.

Lund's energy is important to Brann's style under Martin Ho, and the 26-year-old is not afraid to drift into a central position to snaffle goals. Although Barcelona's right-hand side is not necessarily the easiest to take on – given the presence of Lucy Bronze, Aitana Bonmatí and Caroline Graham Hansen – Lund could pose problems of her own.

Lily Yohannes (Ajax)

Aged 16, Yohannes became the youngest player to start a Women's Champions League group stage game when she lined up in Ajax's 2-0 defeat of Paris in November. It was another major step forward for the American-born midfielder, who moved to the Netherlands in 2017 and joined the Ajax academy shortly after. Indeed, she has been a first-team regular since her promotion to an already-youthful senior squad this season.

Typically fielded on the left of a midfield three, but also able to operate in the centre and push further forward, Yohannes does not look a callow teenager on the pitch. Instead, her passing and running have already helped Ajax progress from their group ahead of Bayern and Roma. Having been named Player of the Match in the win against the Italian side that took her team through, she now has another chance to shine at home against Chelsea.