Renee Slegers had just enough time between training and her pre-Manchester United press conference to digest the news of the UEFA Women’s Champions League league phase draw.
As we look to defend the trophy, we will come up against Lyon (H), Bayern Munich (A), Real Madrid (H), OH Leuven (A), Benfica (A) and Twente (H), with the full fixture details to be confirmed in due course.
Speaking at the Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday, our head coach provided her reaction: “It’s three teams again that we just played against last season in the Champions League,” she said, referring to our wins over Lyon, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
“We’re very excited of course. It’s a new format, so you play against six different opponents. The draw is there, now we know who we’re going to play against and we’re going to prepare for it. They’re scheduling at the moment, so we’ll see what the first game is.”
Read more Meet our six Women’s Champions League opponents!
Asked if the new UWCL format, which will see the top four teams automatically qualify for the knockout stages while those that finish between 5th and 12th will have to play play-off matches, will make things more exciting, she added: “We’ll see how it goes. It’s the first time we do it, of course in the women’s game.
“If you look at the different games that are going to be played, there’s a lot of competitive games and I think that’s why UEFA changed the format as well, to keep it as competitive as possible for as long as possible.”
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