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With the new format of the Women's Champions League, clubs are given a second chance to qualify for the knockout through the play-offs. Two legs home and away, it could all change. These drawn clubs, three or four, have already met in the league phase. They already know their competition, except for the Wolfsburg v Juventus match.

While Chelsea's season has not gone completely to plan, with poor results and controversies surrounding the club, this remains true. Their recruitment under Paul Green was impeccable. Most notable are their two summer signings, Alyssa Thompson and Ellie Carpenter, who have become key players for the team. Both players have saved Chelsea's season, and the teams have relied on their speed to make the difference on multiple occasions.

Chelsea 2026 has been one to forget, back-to-back losses in the WSL for the first time since 2015, and the first time Sonia Bompastor has experienced that in hermanageriall career. The WSL title slipped from your grasp, and you thought it was the lowest it could get. But the decline of the treble holders, who sit third in the WSL, nine points behind Manchester City, has got progressively worse. 

With the Champions League play-offs well underway, the new league phase viewership stats are proving that the revamped Swiss-style has paid off.

The UEFA Women’s Champions League knockout phase begins with holders Arsenal, first-time qualifiers Manchester United, and European heavyweights Wolfsburg all in action, as fine margins and first-leg control come sharply into focus.

Eni Aluko has been known to make claims about the women's game that have gone down like a lead balloon with pundits and fans alike. Many fans across both the women's and men's games have criticised her “poor punditry.”

The Women's Asian Cup is just weeks away, with the WSL likely to lose some of its greatest stars to the international tournament. There is no worse time for the club as we head into the final stages of the WSL, the League Cup final, Champions League knockout fixtures, and the FA Cup, all at their peak intensity. This absence could make or break some clubs' seasons in a matter of weeks.

Chelsea women's legend Paul Green, nicknamed “PG” by the players, has left his role as Chelsea's head of women's football after 13 years at the club.

While Chelsea is now likely more concerned with a possible injury to Millie Bright, there is genuine discontent among the club captain with her actions this season, and it seems to have spread within the club.

It has been reported that Catarina Macario has declined a new contract offer from Chelsea. This puts her future at the club in significant doubt, with only a few months left on her current deal. 

Tottenham Hotspur did almost everything right in the opening 45 minutes – except score. Spurs tore into Chelsea with pace, intent and confidence, dominating the shot count and striking the crossbar, but football’s oldest lesson came back to haunt them. Champions do not need many chances; they only need one. Against the run of play, Chelsea found theirs through a moment of Keira Walsh's brilliance, turning a half owned by Spurs into a game firmly under the control of the defending champions and exposing the acceptable margins between contenders and winners in the WSL.

Given the external noise surrounding the defending champions, this game carried added pressure for Chelsea. Dropping points in back-to-back games for the first time in 11 years meant this fixture carried greater significance than usual. It was also the first time Sonia Bompastor had lost consecutive matches in her managerial career, which spans more than 180 games across multiple competitions. Even with her contract extended through 2030, Chelsea needed a solid performance at Tottenham to convince supporters that she remains the right manager for the job.