Oshoala's Barça Femeni Know UWCL Foes As Draw Holds June 30th

Oshoala's Barça Femeni Know UWCL Foes As Draw Holds June 30th

By Gbenga Gboyega

The draws for the 2023-24 UEFA Women's Champions League will take place on Friday, 30th June 2023 by 1 pm, as reigning champions FC Barcelona Femeni join 70 others in the selection process, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

A total of 71 teams from 49 different football associations will take part in next season's campaign, with 57 clubs involved in the first round of draws, as 9 more join in round 2 and 4 others enter directly in the 16-team group stage.

Asisat Oshoala's Barcelona Femeni alongside former champions Arsenal Women, with Frankfurt Women, Lyonnais Féminin, and last season's finalists Wolfsburg Women, amongst others, stand in the running.

About five debutants including Manchester United Women from England also partake in the draw list, which was determined by the UEFA Women's Association club coefficients taken at the end of the 2021-22 season.

Both the reigning and defending champions of the three highest-ranked associations - France, Germany, & Spain, skip the qualifying rounds to enter the group stage.

Given that FC Barcelona Femeni are both title holders and champions of the Spanish Primera División de la Liga (2021-22, 2022-23), this opens the door for the champions of the fourth-ranked Association - England to also enter the group stage. 

This means Chelsea Women from the Women's Super League in England (2021-22, 2022-23) joins Barcelona Femeni of Spain, Lyonnais Féminin of France, and Bayern Frauen of Germany in the group stage.

The Group stages for next season's UWCL will take center stage from the 14th to 15th of November 2023, all through to the final billed for either the 24th, 25th, or 26th of May 2024 (to be determined) in San Mamés, Bilbao, Spain.