Review of the 2024-25 UEFA Women’s Champions League Second Round Ties
The second round of the 2024-25 UEFA WCL has led us to the 16 team group stage over the next three months. As we have done for years, we have reviewed the first round of qualifiers (see part 1: The Week in Women's Football: Deep-dive into Champions League first round; examining Belarus - TribalFootball.com and part 2: The Week in Women's Football: Examining Champions League Path Groups; 2024 Ballon d'Or nominees - TribalFootball.com). This week we examine the second round two-leg ties.
Champions Path
ZKN Mura (Slovenia) vs. St. Polten (Austria) (0-3, 0-5; 0-8 on aggregate)
Kamila Dubcova (25), a Czechia international, scored a goal and added an assist for St. Polten in their 3-0 first leg win over Mura of Slovenia. She joined St Polten after two seasons at Milan, scoring 4 goals in 42 matches following a stint at Sassuolo, where she played three seasons and had 18 goals in 52 games. In the second leg, Austrian international midfielder Valentina Madi (18) scored two goals within the first ten minutes of St. Polten’s 5-0 win, for an 8-0 aggregate win. Madi has won two league titles with St. Polten over the past two seasons.
ZNK Mura Nona of Slovenia had four imports on their roster:
Goalkeeper Emilie Gavillet (24)—Switzerland; she played four years at the University of Kansas and then a graduate year at Colorado State University in the States. She played 13 games last season with Pomigliano of Italy in Serie A.
Defender Anastasia Sivolobova (26)—Moldova; she is a full international who has also played in Portugal.
Defender Darya Kravets (30)—Ukraine; she has played in Russia with FC Zorky Krasnogorsk, in Kazakhstan with BIIK—where she won three league titles—in France with Reims and in Italy with Fiorentina and Como. She has over 50 caps for Ukraine at the full level.
Midfielder Yana Malakhova (29)—Ukraine; she won a Slovenian title last season with ZNK Mura and won three Ukrainian league titles and four domestic Cups with FK Vorskla/Zhytolbud 2-Kharkiv and FK Zhytlobud-1 of Kharkiv. She is a full international for Ukraine.
Coach Vladimir Kokol (52), who played primarily in his home nation of Slovenia and spent a year in Israel and won 12 international caps in a long playing career, took over ZNK this year.
Hammarby (Sweden) vs. Benfica (Portugal) (1-2, 2-0; 3-2 on aggregate)
In a really exciting tie, like the Slava-Galatasaray matches (below), Hammarby lost the first leg in Sweden (2-1) and tied up the aggregate scores with Norwegian international Julie Blakstad’s (23) goal in the 16th minute, who also scored in the 16th minute in the first leg. She has six goals in 21 regular season matches for Hacken in 2024, who she first joined on loan last season from Manchester City but has now joined the Swedish side permanently. Another Norwegian international, Cathinka Tran Benberg (20,) scored the winner in the 95th minute to send Hammerby to their first WCL group stage appearance. Tran Benberg moved from Linkoping to Hacken during the summer transfer window. Benfica used goals by Spain’s Cristina Martin-Prieto (31) and Portuguese international Andreia Norton (28) in the first leg. Hammarby has achieved this continental first after only a few years, following moving up from the Elitettan, second tier for the 2021 season. The club had previously been a bit of a yo-yo club between the two divisions from 2011 to 2021.
Benfica had a dozen (12) imports on their WCL roster: Brazil (3), Canada (2), Germany (2), Spain (2) and one each from Jamaica, Nigeria, and Norway. Some of the key imports include: Nigeria’s Christy Ucheibe (23) played in this summer’s Olympics and last year’s WWC Finals. She joined the club in February of 2020 after playing in the Swedish Elitettan or second division with Assi. German goalkeeper Kena Pauels (26) is in her second season after seven seasons at home with Werder Bremen. Pauels’ fellow German, midfielder Ana Gaspar (27), won a league title with Benfica and previously played in Germany at Turbine Potsdam and Bayer Leverkusen.
Forward Jodi Brown (22) of Jamaica has recently signed her first professional contract with Benfica; she has been the future promise of the Reggae Girlz since she played in the 2019 WWC as a high schooler—first being capped at the senior level by former WNT head coach Hue Menzies when she was 16. She recently finished her college career at Florida State University, scoring 24 goals with 26 assists in 84 matches with two national championships (College Cups) titles. She has scored 12 times in 18 national team appearances. She has signed a three year contract with Benfica.
Midfielder Marie Alidou (29) of Canada played college at the Université du Québec à Montréal in her native city. She has played in Austria, France, Norway, Spain, Sweden and for the last three seasons in Portugal (two with Benfica). She scored six goals in 18 matches last season. She made her debut for Canada in 2022.
Forward Chandra Davidson (26) of Canada scored 13 goals in 75 games at Indiana University from 2016 to 2020 and since has played in Portugal and Netherlands.
Forward Cristina Martin-Prieto (31) of Spain is in her first season with the Portuguese power and has played all of her career at home, primarily with Sevilla and Tenerife. In the past two seasons with Sevilla, she scored 29 goals in 59 matches.
Recent departures from the club include Portuguese international icon Jessica Silva, who went back to the NWSL over the summer to join Gotham FC (see our profile and interview with her last month: The Week in Women's Football: NWSL (& Tribalfootball) welcome new signings; AFC Club Championship review - TribalFootball.com). In addition, American defender Paige Almendairz (26) left the club after the 2023-24 season to return home to play in the USL Super League with the Tampa Bay Sun. She had played in Portugal with three clubs since the 2020-21 season; she went to school at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Twente (Netherlands) vs. Osijek (Croatia) (4-1, 4-0; 8-1 on aggregate)
ZNK Osijek rostered five imports for their 2024-25 WCL campaign—with two who play internationally for Puerto Rico, and one each from Greece, Slovakia and the U.S.:
Goalkeeper Ariana Anastasiadis (23)—Greece; she grew up in Canada and won a league title with Osijek last season, one in Cyprus with Apollon in 2022-23 and also played with LeHavre in France.
Defender Tereza Bednarova (23)—Slovakia; she is a youth international who has also played in Denmark and Austria.
Defender Madison Cox (28)—Puerto Rico; she grew up in the States, played at the University of Tampa and Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona and also played indoor soccer with the Tampa Bay Strikers in the National Indoor Soccer League (see our NISL review of last season’s campaign: The Week in Women's Football: Reviewing Spanish, German & Italian leagues - plus US indoor season - Tribal Football). She went abroad earlier this year to play for Lefkothea Latsion of Cyprus before joining Osijek this summer. She is a full international for Puerto Rico.
Midfielder Veronica Garcia (24)—Puerto Rico; she is another Puerto Rican international who joined the Puerto Rico Sol as an 18-year-old in 2018.
Forward Lindsey Leigh Porter (23)—U.S.; she finished her college career after the 2023 season following two years at UC-Davis; she previously spent three seasons at UC-Santa Barbara, both in California.
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) vs. Galatasaray (Turkey) (2-2, 1-2; 3-4)
Slavia and Galatasaray gave fans a tremendous series in both legs and a surprise Round of 16 finalist. In the first leg which was a nailbiter to watch, Andrea Staskova (24) of the Czech Republic gave the home side Galatasaray a 2-0 lead with goals in the 56th and 66th minute, but an own goal by the champions from Turkey in the 76th minute and a 98th minute winner by Slovakian international Kristina Kosikova (30) pulled back the Czech side to even on goals going into the second leg in Prague.
In the second leg, host side Slavia took an early lead through an own goal by Turkish international defender Eda Karatas (29) of Galatasaray in the 31st minute but German-born Turkish international Arzu Karabulut (33) tied the match again in the 49th minute. There were no further goals in regulation time but Galatasaray’s Turkish-born Azerbaijani international Nazlican Parlak (31) scored in the 100th minute—after coming on as a substitute just three minutes before—to send the Turkish champions onto the Round of 16 Group Stage in their WCL debut season.
Slavia Prague of Czechia had a bye into Round 2 and their defeat was quite a surprise as they made the Group Stage in the last two WCL seasons and made the Quarterfinals (Round of 8) on three other occasions in 13 Women’s Cup/Champions League appearances since their debut season in 2003-04.
Slavia Prague had five imports from Slovakia, two from the U.S. and one each from Montenegro and Kenya. Their imports from the States and Kenya were:
Defender Marianna Annest (22)—U.S.; she played at Northwestern University in Chicago and the University of Alabama.
Midfielder Molly McLaughlin (24)—U.S. She played at the University of Pennsylvania and Xavier University and with Indy 11 in the USL W League.
Forward Marjolen Nekesa (25)—Kenya; she played for Kenya at the African Women’s Cup of Nations in 2018 in Ghana and in the States at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. She first started in Europe in Belarus with Minsk and has been with Slavia since the 2022-23 season, winning two league titles in Czechia.
Servette (Switzerland) vs. Roma (Italy) (1-3, 2-7; 3-10 on aggregate)
Canadian international Evelyn Viens scored two goals late in the game—in the 84th minute and three minutes into injury time—to give Roma an important two goal cushion for a 3-1 win in their home leg against Servette before the return match in Geneva. Viens won an Olympic Gold Medal in Tokyo in 2021 and played on the team that made the Quarterfinals this summer in Paris, despite starting their group stage with a six point deduction because of using drones to spy on opponent’s close practices; she scored 13 goals last season at Roma in 24 regular season games. She has also played with Kristianstads in Sweden, Gotham FC in the NWSL and Paris FC in France.
In the second leg on September 26, the 3-1 advantage from the first leg effectively sealed the tie for Roma—who now have made the group stage for the third consecutive year since their WCL debut in 2022-23—as they beat Servette 7-2 for a 10-3 aggregate win. Giulia Dragoni (17), who is a full international for Italy and was with Barcelona last season, and fellow Italian international Valentina Giacinti (30) both had braces in the second leg.
In friendlies at the beginning of August, Servette lost to Juventus of Italy 6-1 and St. Gallen of Switzerland 1-0. Servette was import-heavy with 16 on their squad, seven from France, two from Spain, two from Sweden and one each from Finland, Croatia, Portugal Estonia and Lithuania. One of their goalkeepers is new to Switzerland and has played all over Europe, including for major clubs in multiple countries:
Goalkeeper Tinja-Riikka Korpela (38)—Finland; she is in her first season with Servette. She has previously played in Finland, Norway and Sweden along with big clubs in England (Tottenham Hotspur and Everton), Germany (Bayern Munich) and Italy (AS Roma). She has over a century of caps for Finland.
Vålerenga (Norway) vs. Anderlecht (Belgium) (2-1, 3-0—5-1 on aggregate)
In the first match, American defender Michaela Kovacs (27) and Norwegian international Karina Saevik (28) gave Valerenga a 2-0 lead within the first 16 minutes over Anderlecht of Belgium. Anderlecht’s Romanian international Stefania-Juliana Vatafu (31), who has won 12 Romanian league championships since 2011-12, scored in the 29th minute for the ultimate 2-1 scoreline. Valerenga won the second leg at home 3-0 with goals from Norwegian international Thea Bjelde (24), in her fourth season at the club, Danish international Janni Thomsen (24), in her fifth season with Valerenga, and Karina Saevik again scoring, this time in the 81st minute.
Anderlecht of Belgium prepared for their WCL fixtures with a 4-3 win over Feyenoord of the Netherlands before falling to Paris FC 5-1 in early August. Anderlecht had four imports from France, three from neighbors Netherlands and one each from Slovakia and Romania. A few of their imports were:
Romanian international midfielder Stefania Vatafu (31) is in her seventh season with Anderlecht; she has won six league titles at home with Olimpia Cluj and has played in Spain at Tenerife; she has over 40 senior caps with Romania.
Slovakian international midfielder Ludmila Mat’avkova (26) is in her second season with the Belgium champions and has played in the country since joining Charleroi in 2020-21; she has over a quarter-century of caps for her national side.
French youth international forward Amelie Delabre (23) played at Metz from 2018 to 2023 and is in her second season at Anderlecht. She played for France at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica where France lost to Japan on penalties (5-3) after a 3-3 tie in the quarterfinals.
Celtic (Scotland) vs. Vorskla Poltava (Ukraine) (1-0, 2-0; 3-0 on aggregate)
In the first leg away to Vorskla but held in Airdrie in Scotland because of the war in Ukraine, American Murphy Agnew (25) scored the only goal of the match in the 5th minute for the ultimate winner for Celtic. Agnew is in her second season with Celtic, scoring 13 goals in 29 games last season; she has 3 goals in 7 games thus far in the 2024-25 regular season. She played with Newcastle Jets in Australia’s A-League before coming to Scotland. She played collegiately at Harvard University in the Massachusetts.
Swedish native Elena Sadiku (30), who was an U-19 international during her player career which was cut short by multiple knee injuries, took over as head coach in January 2024 and now has guided Celtic to the Group Stage for the first time in their third year in the WCL, after they beat Vorskla Poltava 2-0 in the second leg for a 3-0 aggregate victory.
Vorskla, also known as Zhytlobud-2 Kharkiv, used an all-Ukrainian roster except for Armenian international midfielder Olga Osipyan (29) who is a full international and was with the side last season. Vorskla’s local midfielder Mariia Amel Taleb (20) played in Italy’s Serie A with Sampdoria in 2022-23 and last season with Arezzo in Serie B. She is a Ukrainian U-19 international.
Over the summer, their Ukrainian international forward Nicole Kozlova (24) moved from FC Vorskla Poltava, where she helped the club win the league and cup double and scored16 goals in 20 league matches in 2023-24; in July 2024, she signed with Scottish Women’s Premier League side Glasgow City. She made her debut on August 11, scoring two goals in a 7-0 victory over Montrose. Unfortunately, with the recent rise of Glasgow rivals Celtic and Rangers, City are not participating in the WCL this season—missing for the first time in 17 seasons, after qualifying for 16 consecutive seasons as they won 16 league titles at home as an independent (no relationship with a men’s side) team.
League Path
Real Madrid (Spain) vs. Sporting Lisbon (Portugal) (2-1, 3-1; 5-2 on aggregate)
On September 19, 2023 WWC Winning forward Athenea del Castillo (23) scored an early goal in the 11th minute, but home side forward and Portugal U-17 international Andreia Bravo (19—who has been with Sporting since 2017 and won a second division title with the side in 2020-21—tied it up from the penalty spot at the end of the half. Right on the edge of second half full-time, 2023 WWC Winner and Real Madrid Captain Olga Carmona (24) sent a telling cross from the far left wing that Sporting’s American goalkeeper Hannah Seabert (29) couldn’t quite pull in and German international Melanie Leupotz (30) was behind her and headed into the goal for the winner in a 2-1 road victory for Real Madrid. Real Madrid made the WCL 16-team League Stage last season and is on pace to do it again—winning 3-1 in the second leg for a 5-2 aggregate victory.
Sporting had four Americans (including two goalkeepers) on their roster along with one player each from Australia, Brazil, England, Norway and Spain:
Goalkeeper Hannah Seabert (29)—U.S.; she played at Pepperdine University and has spent time on the Orlando Pride roster before going to Europe to play with Fortuna Hjorring in Denmark, Valerenga in Norway—winning a league title in each country—and is in her second season with Sporting Lisbon.
Goalkeeper Catriona Sheppard (23)—U.S.; she played at the University of New Hampshire and was with Clube Albergaria last year in Portugal.
Defender Georgia Eaton-Collins (24)—England; she was a youth international at multiple levels for England and spent the 2022-23 season with Leicester City in the WSL and the 2023-24 campaign with Koge in Denmark. She also played at the University of Florida in the States.
Defender Andrea Norheim (25)—Norway; at home she played for Klepp and Avaldsnes IL and has spent time with Olympique Lyonnais of France, Pitea of Sweden and Koge of Denmark. She was with Lyon when they won the 2016-17 WCL and won league titles in Denmark (2), Sweden and France along with the Super Cup this season with Sporting. She played for Norway at the U-17 and U-19 levels.
Midfielder Brenda Perez (31)—Spain; she has played in Sporting for four seasons after previously playing for multiple teams at home.
Midfielder Maiara Niehues (20)—Brazil; she played for futsal clubs at home and for Iranduba da Amazonia and SC Internacional before joining Sporting in 2022. She played for Brazil at this summer’s U-20 WWC in Colombia, where they lost to ultimate winners Korea DPR (1-0) in Medellin in the Quarterfinals.
Forward Brittany Raphino (23)—U.S.; she finished her college career last year at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Forward Miri O’Donnell (18)—U.S.; she played youth soccer in California and qualifies to play internationally for Japan (where she was born) and the U.S. She signed a contract through 2027.
She told the club’s media site upon signing this summer: “I’m very excited to be here. Entering the dressing room and seeing players I used to see on television fascinated me. It’s all fantastic; the coaches are amazing and the players were very welcoming and kind. I feel blessed. For me the most important thing is evolution, especially now that I’m starting my adult life. When talking to the coaches, what stood out the most was the fact that they value the development of the players, as well as the team. I think that was really the main reason that made me join Sporting CP.”
The U.S. had 8 professionals with NWSL clubs on their U-20 WNT this summer at the FIFA Finals—the most professionals among the 24 teams in Colombia—and it is interesting that more teenagers from North America are looking abroad to turn professionally with clubs in Europe. It will be interesting to track O’Donnell’s progress and if she gains future national team opportunities with Japan or the States because of her move to Europe at such a young age.
Forward Jacynta Galabadaarachchi (23)—Australia—(see more on Jacynta who we featured last year: The Week in Women's Football: Profiling Kaloyan Petkov; Celtic welcome Chinese starlets; Euro League reviews - Tribal Football). She has played for Australia at the U-20 level and scored 15 goals and added 17 assists in 30 games with Celtic in Scotland in 2022-23 when they finished second in the league title race to Glasgow City. She is in her second season with Sporting on a contract that ends next summer.
Paris Saint-Germain (France) vs. Juventus (Italy) (1-3, 1-2; aggregate 2-5 )
Both Paris WCL participants fell out of the competition in the Second Round this season, with PSG losing to Juventus 5-2 on aggregate.
PSG’s eight imports were from Netherlands (2), Poland (2), U.S. (2), England (1) and Nigeria (1). Two of their imports are goalkeepers:
Mary Earps (32) of England, who won the Golden Glove as the Best Goalkeeper of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, joined PSG this summer after five years with Manchester United. She also played abroad for one season with Wolfsburg in Germany in 2018-19. She started both WCL matches this season.
Polish international Katarzyna Kiedrzynek (33) has been with PSG for nine years in two different stints. She is in her second year back in Paris after three years with Wolfsburg in Germany from 2020-21 through the 2022-23 season.
Another new edition is Nigerian international midfielder Jennifer Echegini (23), who scored 10 goals in 14 matches for Juventus last season and played for Nigeria at the 2023 WWC Finals in Australia/New Zealand and at the Olympic Finals in Paris this past summer.
Manchester City (England) vs. Paris FC (France) (5-0, 3-0; 8-0 on aggregate)
Netherlands international forward Viv Miedema, who joined City on a free transfer in the off-season and missed all of last season with an ACL injury at Arsenal, scored the winning goal in the 36th minute while English international Jessica Park (22) scored a brace along with singles from Australian international Mary Fowler and English international Chloe Kelly. In the second leg, Chloe Kelly opened the scoring in the 2nd minute followed by a brace by Kadija Shaw of Jamaica to move onto the Round of 16 with an 8-0 aggregate victory.
Paris FC utilized four imports—one each from CAF, CONCACAF, UEFA and AFC:
Goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie (23)—Nigeria; she is in her fifth season at Paris FC and was a revelation at the 2023 WWC for Nigeria. She also was with their Olympic Games Finals side this summer.
Defender Deja Davis (29)—U.S.; she played the last three seasons with Le Havre in Northern France and scored 5 goals in 64 games from the back. She played at La Salle University in Pennsylvania and with the U.S. U-23 WNT.
Midfielder Kaja Korsec (22)—Slovenia; she is in her second year at Paris FC and, before she moved to France, she won three consecutive league titles in Slovenia at Pomurje.
Midfielder Sara Hunter (20)—Australia; she is a full international for the Matildas and played in the 2023 WWC Finals at home. At the club level, she has played at Sydney FC for two seasons and one with Western Sydney.
From France, defender Teninsoun Sissoko (32) is in her second season with Paris after transferring from Germany’s Turbine Potsdam; her contract ends next summer.
Originally from Saint-Denis in the Paris suburbs, Teninsoun Sissoko began her career at Le Mans at the age of 15 in D2 Féminine. She joined AS Saint-Etienne in 2012, where she played her first D1 matches and stayed for five years. She then signed for FC Fleury 91 in 2017 and played in 69 games. After four seasons with Fleury, she moved to the Frauen-Bundesliga with FFC Turbine Potsdam, which was relegated after the 2022-23 season. She played for the France international B side on two occasions in 2017 when she was playing at St. Etienne.
She said about her move home to Paris at the time: “I’m very proud and honored to be joining Paris FC. I’m delighted to be joining this team and to be able to make my experience contribute to the team. Seeing the evolution of Paris FC over the last few seasons, it was a pretty logical choice, especially as my family lives in the Paris region. From a sporting point of view, it was the best choice I could have made.”
Wolfsburg (Germany) vs. Fiorentina (Italy) (7-0, 5-0; 12-0 on aggregate)
Fiorentina came up against a buzz saw in Wolfsburg, the perennial UEFA WCL side who won consecutive titles in 2012-13 and 2013-14 and have lost in four other finals. The German side are out to make an impact this season after losing to Paris FC 5-3 on aggregate in the Second Round in 2023-24. In the first game, German international Alexandra Popp (33), who is in her 13th season with Wolfsburg, scored a hat-trick and German international Marina Hegering (34) added two goals. In the second leg, German full international Endemann (23) scored a brace for Wolfsburg—she is in her second season with the club.
Fiorentina used eleven imports for their WCL roster: three from Denmark, two from Sweden, and one each from Austria, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain. There was speculation that former Spanish international (with over 60 caps) and world traveler Vero Boquette (37) was leaving the club this past summer but she renewed her contract until the end of June 2025. She has played in Russia, China, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and in two U.S. Pro leagues—the WPS and NWSL. TribalFootball.com has interviewed her in the past and she is an articulate spokesperson for women’s football and the growth of the global game.
Arsenal (England) vs. Häcken (Sweden) (0-1, 4-0; 4-1 on aggregate)
Arsenal lost the first leg away to Hacken (1-0) but came back to blast the Swedish side 4-0 for a 4-1 aggregate win to qualify for the Round of 16 after falling surprisingly in last season’s WCL first qualifying round final after falling to Paris F.C. (4-2 on penalties after a 3-3 tie). Hacken had eight imports on their WCL roster: two from Denmark and one each from Canada, Finland, Japan, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, and the U.S. Their imports from outside of Europe include:
Defender Hikaru Kitagawa (27)—Japan, she is in her first season with Hacken after moving from INAC Kobe Leonessa of the WE-League in Japan. She won a U-17 WWC title in Costa Rica in 2014 and a Bronze Medal at the U-20 level at the FIFA Finals in 2016 in Papua New Guinea.
Midfielder Tabitha Tindell (29)—U.S.; she is her first season with Hacken after three seasons at Kristianstad, where she scored 26 goals in 62 games. Prior to that she played three seasons with Kalmar in the Elitettan (second tier), scoring 39 goals in 63 games. She played at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Forward Clarissa Larisey (25)—Canada; she is a full international and is in her second season with Hacken, scoring five goals in 17 regular season games this season after notching six goals in 18 games in 2023. She previously scored 12 goals in 12 games with Celtic in Scotland and also played in Iceland with Valur. She played collegiately in the States at the University of Memphis.
Round of 16 Groups are set
The four team Round of 16 groups, to be played from October through December, are:
Group A
Lyon (FRA)
Wolfsburg (GER)
Roma (ITA)
Galatasaray (TUR)
Group B
Chelsea (ENG)
Real Madrid (ESP)
Twente (NED)
Celtic (SCO)
Group C
Bayern München (GER)
Arsenal (ENG)
Juventus (ITA)
Vålerenga (NOR)
Group D
Barcelona (ESP, holders)
Manchester City (ENG)
St. Pölten (AUT)
Hammarby (SWE)
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey