Women's Champions League Qualifying: Decisive Second Legs Set to Confirm League Phase Lineup

The UEFA Women's Champions League third qualifying round reaches its decisive second legs today, with the final spots in this season's league phase up for grabs across nine two-legged ties.

Real Madrid head into their return leg with Ajax holding a comfortable 2-0 aggregate lead from the first leg in the Netherlands, courtesy of goals from Felicia Schroder and Janou Levels. Wolfsburg are similarly well placed against Inter, having won the first leg 2-0 at home through Lara Prasnikar and Camilla Kuever, with Inter reduced to ten women in that encounter. Chelsea hold the biggest cushion of the marquee ties, having produced a stunning second-half turnaround to beat Real Sociedad 5-2 at Plough Lane, with debutant Melvine Malard scoring twice either side of a Lauren James strike after Sociedad had briefly levelled at 2-2. Elsewhere, Sparta Prague take a narrower 3-2 advantage into their second leg away at Servette after a five-goal thriller in the first meeting.

The nine winners across the round will join the nine clubs already directly qualified for the league phase, including holders Barcelona, Manchester City, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, PSG hopefuls and other automatic qualifiers, while the nine losing sides drop into the second qualifying round of the Women's Europa Cup.

The stakes are heightened by the timing: the 2026/27 Champions League league phase draw takes place on September 4, just two days after these ties conclude, with the newly qualified sides learning their opponents almost immediately. The competition proper then kicks off with Matchday 1 on September 22/23.