Chelsea 0-0 Roma, 3 min: Chelsea have an early chance with Baltimore whipping it towards goal but it is narrowly wide.
2 min: All the teams finding their feet this evening, no one taking any early chances.
Peeeeep!
We have kick-off in all three of tonight’s Women’s Champions League fixtures. Strap in for all of the updates to come.
I would love to hear from you. This evening I have selected some salted popcorn to keep me energised as I keep across the matches, what snacks have you opted for? Let me know via email.
In the earlier kick-offs Vålerenga fell to a 1-0 loss to Paris FC after Karina Saevik was shown a red card, while Barcelona have climbed back to top of the table with a 3-1 win over Benfica.
Catch up on all the latest WSL action with the women’s football weekly podcast where Chelsea lost their first domestic game under Sonia Bompastor:
The Manchester United manager Marc Skinner said Jayde Riviere can become the world’s leading right-back, as he threw praise on the Canada international during Tuesday’s pre-match press conference.
Riviere, who is set to go head-to-head with the in-form OL Lyonnes winger Tabitha Chawinga here at Leigh Sports Village tonight, has become a key player for Manchester United this term and Skinner said: “Jayde has the capacity to be one of the, if not the, best right-back in the world. The next part of Jayde’s growth is just that consistency of being able to do it on a weekly basis. And I think she’s such an expressive full-back, it’s hard to keep doing that.
“When she’s electric, honestly, nobody can live with her. So I’m really looking forward to her growth. But I also understand the natural curve of somebody’s performances and how they grow. So she’s in really good form and I’m looking forward to the extra development she’ll make throughout these next few seasons.”
Here’s a piece on OL Lyonnes, the opponents of Manchester United this evening and eight-time champions in this competition:
The Manchester United head coach, Marc Skinner, has hailed OL Lyonnes as Europe’s best team but urged his side to take the game to the eight-time European champions in Leigh on Wednesday.
Skinner’s team are a point behind the French club in the Women’s Champions League table after winning three of their first four matches in their debut campaign at this stage of the competition, meaning they have secured at least a knockout-phase playoff spot.
Both sides hope to finish in the top four to progress automatically to the quarter-finals, and Skinner said: “We’re playing the best team in Europe. I know Barcelona are up there as well, but Lyon have the capacity to be the best team in Europe, so we’re going to need them [the fans], and what I want Lyon to feel tomorrow is the force that Manchester United are and can become.
“Lyon have the ability to create something from nothing in any moment of the game. We have to concentrate and be at our very best. If we defend for the whole game, Lyon will win.”
He added: “We can’t just sit off them. We’ve got to be very respectful of that. We must attack. We’re at home and we look forward to trying to give ourselves that quality going forward too.”
The other English club and the defending champions Arsenal played yesterday. They faced a resolute FC Twente, find out how they got on:
Atletico Madrid v Bayern Munich team news
Atletico Madrid welcome back Synne Jensen and Xènia Pérez after they missed the Liga F match this past weekend but they start from the bench.
Atletico Madrid: Gallardo, Lloris, Lauren, Menayo, Medina, Garcia, Boe Risa, Fiamma, Fernandez, Sarriegi, Luany.
Bench: Larqué, Bucero, Pérez, Jensen, Otermín, Bartel, Portales, Peñalvo, Gómez, Cris, Rodríguez, Miñambre.
The German visitors have a whole host of internationals in their ranks but Georgia Stanway does not feature this evening.
Bayern Munich: Mahmutovic, Gwinn, Viggosdottir, Gilles, Kett, Caruso, Tanikawa, Dallmann, Harder, Buhl, Damnjanovic.
Bench: Grohs, Klink, Ballisager, Eriksson, T. Hansen, Schüller, Alara, Simon.
Chelsea v Roma team news
Hosts Chelsea will be without Erin Cuthbert and Nathalie Bjorn because of injury but they do start star striker Sam Kerr.
Chelsea: Peng, Bronze, Bright, Buurman, Charles, Walsh, Kaptein, Kaneryd, Macario, Baltimore, Kerr.
Bench: Spencer, Carpenter, Girma, Jean-Francois, Nusken, Reiten, Hamano, Potter, Sarwie, Thompson, Beever-Jones.
Roma have a number of threats across the pitch but the Blues should be wary of Alayah Pilgrim who starts up front.
Roma: Lukasova, Bergamaschi, Heatley, Oladipo, Thogersen, Pandini, Kuhl, Giugliano, Dragoni, Babajide, Pilgrim.
Bench: Baldi, Soggiu, Di Guglielmo, Valdezate, Viens, Corelli, Greggi, Pante, Rieke, Ventriglia, Galli.
Man Utd v OL Lyonnes team news
Manchester United start star midfielders Jess Park and Ella Toone on the bench for tonight’s encounter.
Man Utd: Tullis-Joyce, Sandberg, George, Le Tissier, Malard, Rolfo, Awujo, Riviere, Naalsund, Hinata, Williams.
Bench: Middleton-Patel, Rendell, Blundell, Janssen, Galton, Park, Toone, Zigiotti, Griffiths.
OL Lyonnes similarly leave a few stars on the bench with the likes of Wendie Renard and Marie-Antoinette Katoto named as substitutes.
OL Lyonnes: Endler, Tarciane, Sombath, Engen, Bacha, Heaps, Damaris, Dumornay, Brand, Hegerberg, Chawinga.
Bench: Belhadj, Micah, Renard, Junttila Nelhage, Becho, Shrader, Katoto, Diani, Lawrence, Yohannes, Svava, Benyahia
Updated
Preamble
Hello and welcome to this evening’s coverage of the Women’s Champions League. We will be covering all three games this evening but there will be a focus on Chelsea v Roma and Manchester United v OL Lyonnes.
It is the penultimate round of Champions League matches in the league stage and after some games yesterday it is Juventus who sit on top of the table. Barcelona, who kick-off at 5.45pm GMT against Benfica, have a chance to take back top spot with a win.
In the build-up to kick-off there will be a whole host of preview updates and news but do also get in touch via email.
We will bring you the latest updates and scores from the earlier kick-offs too and the team news from the three 8pm GMT games will be dropping shortly so make sure you stay tuned.
