All eyes turn to Spain as the women's Champions League takes centre stage

For the longest time, during some of the darkest months of the COVID-19 lockdown, it looked unlikely that we’d see any football for the remainder of the 2019/20 season.

Due to a mixture of contracts, public call-outs and television rights, Europe’s biggest leagues returned within eight weeks of their closure.

The likes of the Premier League, Bundesliga and Champions League were quick to come up with solutions that ensured that the millions they received in TV revenue did not have to be returned.

While players for the likes of Arsenal, PSG and Barcelona returned to training, their female counterparts remained in the dark. 

Women’s football leagues across Europe were quickly rendered unnecessary, and their organisers were quick to curtail their seasons.

Champions were decided by an algorithm rather than on the field of play, and relegations were dealt with in much the same way.

No one was sure when they’d see their teammates again… until suddenly, it all changed. On June 17th, UEFA announced that the Women’s Champions League was to be hosted in the cities of Bilbao and San Sebastián in Northern Spain.

This weekend, women’s football remains to the international stage, and with it brings a host of excitement.

This year’s tournament, similar to the men’s Champions League, will take the form of a mini, eight-team knockout tournament, made up of teams that were still competing in the tournament when fixtures were called off in March.

The tournament, starting at the quarter-final stage, which takes place over nine days, will be contested by Arsenal, Lyon, PSG, Barcelona, Wolfsburg, Glasgow City,  Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich. 

The tournament kicks-off on Friday (18:00) with Glasgow City taking on tournament favourites Wolfsburg and Spanish rivals Atlético Madrid competing against Barcelona. All of the matches will be broadcast live on BT Sports and will be streamed by UEFA.com.

This season is unique not only in the sense that it follows a worldwide pandemic, but also in the fact that for the first time, UEFA have allowed new signings to compete in the competition even if they were not registered when the tournament began or, even more interestingly, even if they played previous matches in this campaign for one of the other eight teams in the quarterfinals. 

There are a number of interesting storylines that come with this year's tournament.

One of the most pressing is Arsenal’s need to win the tournament to be eligible to compete in the competition next season. The gunners are the only English team left in the competition and the only club competing not to have already qualified for next season’s edition, and thus the pressure will be huge for a club of such prestige.

They’ll be looking to Dutch striker Vivanne Miedema, considered one of the best in the world, and Republic of Ireland international Katie McCabe to fire them through their opening game against PSG on Saturday. 

Lyon will be looking to lift the trophy for the fourth year in a row when they kick off their campaign against Bayern Munich on Saturday.

The French side are the most successful club in the competition’s history, having won six of the twenty tournaments, and are almost certain to feature in the final on August 30th. 

Regardless of who makes it to the final in San Sebastián, it’s sure to be a riveting tournament with some of the brightest talents of the women’s game on show.

Once either PSG or Bayern lift the men’s trophy in Lisbon, all eyes will turn to Spain.

For the first time in European club history, it’s time for the women to take centre stage.  With Irish interests lying with McCabe (Arsenal) and Claire Shine (Glasgow City), it’s sure to be an exciting and historic week for all fans of the beautiful game.