The ball will be rolling again starting Tuesday evening in the Women’s Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious club tournament. Eighteen teams will compete, marking the second season under the new format. While no clubs from the Eredivisie are participating this year, there are 29 Dutch players—and one Dutch coach-at foreign clubs. What should you keep an eye on this season? Barcelona’s women’s football team is the overwhelming favorite, according to statistics agency Opta. This can be explained, in part, by the fact that they have won four of the last six editions and reached the final in all six of those editions. Opta gives the Spanish team a 41 percent chance of winning the Champions League. Bayern Munich comes next (with a 17 percent chance of winning the title), followed by Chelsea (14 percent), Manchester City (9 percent), and Olympique Lyonnais (9 percent). Real Madrid is in eighth place with a 1 percent chance. Barcelona are the defending champions following their 4–0 victory over OL Lyonnes in last season’s final. Since then, all the participating clubs have undergone major changes. For example, Barça’s superstar Alèxia Putellas, along with Kadidiatou Diani of OL Lyonnes, moved to London City Lionesses – who have not yet qualified this year. Although PSV and Ajax did not qualify for the main tournament, there will be plenty of Dutch players in action. The biggest Dutch names include internationals such as Kerstin Casparij and Vivianne Miedema (Manchester City), Esmee Brugts (FC Barcelona) and Damaris Egurrola (OL Lyonnes), Wieke Kaptein and Veerle Buurman (Chelsea) and Romée Leuchter and Jackie Groenen (Paris Saint-Germain). The team with the most Dutch players, on the other hand, is OH Leuven. No fewer than seven (!) Dutch players feature for our neighbours to the south, who are competing in the Champions League for the second year running. Renée Slegers is still the manager of Arsenal. She led the English side to their first Champions League title in the 2024/2025 season. Two clubs are taking part in the Champions League group stage for the first time: Internazionale and Austria Wien from Austria. Manchester City, the Danish side HB Køge, Servette (Switzerland) and BK Häcken (then known as Göteborg) from Sweden had previously competed in the Champions League under the old format, but this is their first time under the current format. A notable Dutch name in this group is Jacintha Weimar, who plays in goal for Servette. She left Feyenoord this summer to join the Swiss club, but Feyenoord are currently competing in the final qualifying round of the Europa League, one tier below. This is not the first time Weimar has played in Europe: she previously did so with Bayern Munich. The 2027 World Cup is fast approaching. The Champions League offers an excellent opportunity to take a closer look at Europe’s top female players – or those from other countries around the world. These three are tipped by experts as contenders for the Ballon d’Or. Firstly, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, the striker and top scorer for Manchester City. The 29-year-old Jamaican scored 21 league goals in 22 matches last season and helped City secure their first league title in ten years. She was subsequently voted the best player in the English league. Her team-mate Yui Hasegawa has been one of the most underrated midfielders for years. The Japanese player has a strong tackle in her repertoire and excels at winning the ball back. Japan also benefited from this during their Asian Cup victory. At FC Barcelona, Patri Guijarro is a mainstay. Last season she was plagued by injuries and played very little. Now the spotlight can be back on Guijarro. One of her key qualities is that, as a midfielder, she lifts the whole team without constantly taking centre stage herself. If Barcelona reach the final again this season, it could mean double cause for celebration for the Polish player Ewa Pajor. The Champions League final will be played in May in her home country, at the Narodowy Stadium in Warsaw. Last season, the forward already reached a milestone. She had previously played in five Champions League finals with Wolfsburg in 2015–16, 2017–18, 2019–20 and 2022–23, and one with Barcelona in 2024–25 – but lost all five. Until, just under six months ago, she finally lifted the trophy with Barcelona.   submitted by   /u/Roller95 [link]   [comments]