English trio vie for Champions League semi-finals

The clocks have gone forward and the stakes have risen: Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are locked in a three-way fight to carry the English flag into the last four of the Women’s Champions League, with the decisive quarter-final second legs to be played on Wednesday.

Arsenal’s meeting with Chelsea guarantees at least one English semi-finalist. Renee Slegers’ defending champions carry a 3-1 cushion into the return leg at Stamford Bridge, but the tie is far from settled. Chelsea overturned a 2-0 deficit against Manchester City at the same juncture last season, a memory that fuels full-back Lucy Bronze’s belief. “We know we can go to Stamford Bridge and turn this result around,” she told BBC Sport. “We’ve got big players with big personalities who have been in this position before.”

The Blues welcome back striker Sam Kerr, fresh from the Asian Cup and back on the scoresheet in Sunday’s WSL win over Aston Villa. Arsenal, buoyed by Saturday’s 5-2 derby triumph over Tottenham, are equally wary. “We know the tie is nowhere near done,” said Alessia Russo, whose first-leg goal took her to eight for the competition this campaign.

Manchester United, meanwhile, must rewrite history in Munich. No English side has ever won at Bayern in the women’s competition, yet Marc Skinner’s team will have to after slipping to a 3-2 home defeat in the opener. United twice clawed their way level last week, only for Momoko Tanikawa’s late strike to tilt the balance. “We’re not a team that just wants to make up the numbers,” Skinner insisted. With the margin just a single goal, United travel believing a maiden semi-final remains attainable. “They’ve seen that Bayern are not perfect,” former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha told Disney+. “When it is your day you can take those opportunities.”

The semi-final line-up will be completed on Thursday. Barcelona, 6-2 victors at Real Madrid in the first leg, look assured of progress, while Wolfsburg’s 1-0 lead over Lyon is precarious ahead of the second leg in France.