The group stage is where the UEFA Women's Champions League truly heats up, showcasing Europe’s best teams battling it out for a spot in the knockout rounds.
The 2024–25 season marks the fourth year of the revamped UEFA Women's Champions League format, introduced in 2021, which expanded the group stage to 16 teams. This change not only increased the competition but also provided greater visibility and exposure for women’s football across Europe. As more clubs invest in their women's teams, the level of competition has skyrocketed, creating unpredictability and drama from the very first match.
Key Battles in the UEFA Women's Association Rankings
The UEFA women's club coefficients combine to form the UEFA Women's Association Rankings. The latter regulates the access list for the UEFA Women's European cup competitions. The UEFA Women's Association Rankings at the end of the 2024-25 season will decide the associations' allocated places for the 2026-27 European cup competitions.
This makes for some interesting matchups on a meta level as well.
From next season, the domestic champions of the top 6 associations will enter the main tournament directly. The runner-up of the top 2 associations will also join the main tournament and skip the qualifications rounds.
Furthermore, the seventh placed association will have three teams in the Champions League qualifiying rounds while the association in eights place only have two teams in the Champions League qualifiying rounds.
So, second position and seventh position in the UEFA Women's Association Rankings are really worth fighting for.
The current top of the UEFA Women's Association Rankings look like this (after the qualifying rounds and before the group stage):
The points for 2024-25 above include guaranteed association points based on the standings at the start of the group stage.
The Battle for Second Spot
At the end of last season (2023-24), Germany held second place. But that was due to a really strong 2019-20 season that's obsolete and doesn't count anymore, and a rather weak 2023-24 that very much does count. At the start of this season Spain leapfroged Germany but the race for the second spot is close indeed.
Spain and Gemany have two teams still able to collect coefficients points, Atlético Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt both falling at the first hurdle in the qualifying rounds. However, fourth placed England have all three clubs ready for action at the group stage.
The Battle for Seventh Spot
If Vålerenga had been the only Nordic team to reach the group stage, the margin in Sweden’s favour in the association rankings would have been 0.499 points. In that case, it would have been enough for Vålerenga to earn 1 point in the group stage, and Norway would have overtaken Sweden in the rankings by a margin of 0.001 points.
But Hammarby made a heroic effort against Benfica in the qualifiers, making sure Sweden also has a team in the main tournament. Ahead of the group stage, Sweden now holds seventh place with a margin of 0.832 points over Norway. This is going to be a knife-edge battle where every single point counts.
Group Stage: A Crucial Phase
The group stage is a crucial part of the tournament, as teams must navigate six matches—three at home and three away—against tough competition in their group. Only the top two teams from each group will progress to the knockout rounds, with third-placed teams exiting the competition. This adds a layer of intensity to every fixture, making each point critical.
The Groups
The draw was held on 27 September and saw the 16 qualified teams split into four groups of four teams.
In the group stage and knockout stage of the Champions League 2024/2025, points are awarded to clubs as follows:
- 2 points for each match won.
- 1 point for each match drawn.
- 1 point for each knockout round a team reaches.
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Group A
- Olympique Lyonnais
- VfL Wolfsburg
- AS Roma
- Galatasaray
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Group B
- Chelsea F.C.
- Real Madrid
- FC Twente
- Celtic F.C.
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Group C
- FC Bayern Munich
- Arsenal
- Juventus
- Vålerenga
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Group D
- FC Barcelona
- Manchester City
- St. Pölten
- Hammarby
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Looking Forward: Changes to the UWCL for 2025/26
As we enjoy the 2024–25 UWCL, it’s important to look ahead to the exciting changes coming in the 2025-26 season. UEFA is introducing significant adjustments to the Women’s Champions League structure that will reshape the competition and further grow the women’s game.
If you're curious about the upcoming changes and how they might impact future competitions, check out this detailed article, which covers everything you need to know about the new format and what it means for the future of women’s football:
Changes to the Women’s Champions League for the 2025/2026 Season