The Uefa Women’s Champions League returned this week with four exciting first-leg quarter-final ties.
Arsenal travelled to Bayern Munich, Chelsea to Lyon, Wolfsburg to PSG, and Barcelona to Roma – with all of the games played at the club’s main stadiums.
VAR is brought into the elite competition at this stage and it seemed to become the centre of attention at the Allianz Arena as the Gunners fell to a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich.
There were shouts for an Arsenal penalty for a handball following a Caitlin Foord shot and complaints about a shirt pull on Rafaelle Souza.
Arsenal had good chances to draw level – with 25 shots and six on target – but didn’t.
I felt the reflections on the game pointlessly fell on VAR, as the tightly contested game showcased some of the best European football that could have otherwise taken the headlines instead.
Across the men and women’s game, we know the lay of the land with VAR – because of it, some decisions might go against you, as well as for you.
You just have to deal with that either way and not use it as a way to deflect the result.
Even though Arsenal are behind on aggregate, it’s not an impossible task to progress, so it should be another exciting match when they host Bayern at the Emirates next week.
Erin Cuthbert helps Chelsea to win over Lyon
It was great to see my Scotland team-mate Erin Cuthbert earn the plaudits for her performance on Wednesday night as Chelsea beat Lyon 1-0 in their quarter-final.
Erin had been out with a hamstring problem since the Continental Cup final, but was instrumental in Emma Hayes’ side’s win, bagging a great assist for Guro Reiten’s first-half goal.
It was a very typical performance from Erin: she was busy in midfield, aggressive and very direct.
When you’re at a top team like Chelsea with so many international players, sometimes her talent goes unnoticed to others, so it was really nice to see her get some well deserved praise.
It’s a result Chelsea will be happy with. Prior to the game, Emma Hayes said she felt her side couldn’t win the quarter-final in Lyon but they could lose it.
I understand her point – if Chelsea had gone there and been too expansive in the first leg, then they make it a real uphill battle for the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge.
They were away to the most decorated women’s team in Champions League history, so I think the Chelsea boss will have been playing things down to make sure her team kept calm.
She’ll be more pleased with the result than she will have shown, but it is still finely balanced, especially against Lyon who have got so much attacking prowess.
Guro Reiten curls one in to give Chelsea the lead over UWCL holders Lyon.
Erin Cuthbert with the nutmeg in the lead up 💫
(Via @DAZNFootball)pic.twitter.com/bZtuQdkqdb
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 22, 2023
All four of the first-legs finished 1-0 – in favour of Chelsea, Wolfsburg, Barcelona and Bayern – and the close results show just how much the women’s game has progressed in recent years.
It’s a reflection of the investment that is being made in domestic leagues.
We’ve seen at a national level how the game has improved in Europe, but now we’re seeing that translate at club level too, which is really exciting and it makes people want to watch the games and get more involved.
I think the progress in such a short space of time is quite remarkable.
First SWPL 1 game to be shown on Sky Sports
On Monday night, Sky Sports will broadcast it’s first-ever Scottish women’s league match when current SWPL 1 champions Rangers host Celtic.
When I was still playing in Scotland before moving down south, the chance for a SWPL game to be shown on Sky Sports never crossed my mind – not because I didn’t think it was possible, but because that’s how far away we felt from this kind of progress.
The SWPL’s partnership with Sky naturally brings a bigger stature to the league. There have been games on BBC Alba for a while now, but it doesn’t feel like the women’s game is being promoted as much as it could be on that platform.
LIVE | Here are this weekend's games, including the broadcast matches ⬇📺@HibernianWomen v @GlasgowCityFC | Sat 25th | 17:30 KO | @bbcalba @ThistleWFC v @heartswomenfc | Sun 26th | 13:00 KO | @BBCSportScot@RangersWFC v @CelticFCWomen | Mon 27th | 19:30 KO | @SkySports pic.twitter.com/oORaXfVDsc
— Scottish Women's Premier League (@SWPL) March 22, 2023
The fact Sky think the SWPL is a product they can produce and make it something valuable to them is really exciting.
Hopefully, the game gets a good audience and I expect it will for the fixture that it is.
The first match can act as a catalyst for more and more to be broadcast and then off the back of that, hopefully, more people want to invest in the women’s game, either by being a part of it or by going along to games.
Aberdeen can use split to bring back winning mentality
Aberdeen Women travel to play Glasgow Women for their first match of the SWPL 1 split and it is a chance for the Dons to bring back a winning mentality.
Now they are in the bottom six, they won’t be coming up against teams who have routinely inflicted heavy defeats on them, so Aberdeen have the chance to work within a much more achievable framework.
The psychological side of the game can be difficult to navigate, but it’s something that can be worked on and the post-split fixtures are a good chance for the Dons to change the narrative of their season.
The games should be more competitive, they will see more of the ball and even when things get tough, they should be able to manage difficult spells in the game much better.
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