City Women handed PSG, Bayern and a first-ever meeting with Inter in new-look Champions League
Manchester City Women will face Paris Saint-Germain at home in the Champions League league phase, the first time the two clubs have ever met. It is a fixture that brings a sprinkle of glamour to a group-stage draw that also includes a trip to Bayern Munich and a debut encounter with Internazionale.
Andrée Jeglertz's side learned their fate as the new-look competition takes shape, with every team playing six matches against six different opponents, three at home and three away. City will host their matches at Joie Stadium, as they do for most WSL games, though knockout fixtures are expected to be moved to the Etihad.
The draw has been kind in some respects. City avoided last year's two finalists, Barça Femení and Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, and will instead welcome competition debutants Austria Wien to the North West. But the away schedule offers little comfort, with Bayern Munich looming as the toughest test on paper.
There is a curious quirk in the fixture list: City have never met German opposition before, making the trip to Bavaria a voyage into the unknown. Similarly, BK Häcken will be new opponents, even if the reigning UEFA Women's Europa Cup holders arrive as something of a novelty. The pair will meet at the Nordic Wellness Arena in Göteborg, where City will hope to extend their perfect record against Swedish clubs, having won all six such matches to date.
"This will be the first time they have ever faced les Rouge-et-Bleu."
Real Madrid, by contrast, are familiar foes, having eliminated City from qualifying in both 2021 and 2022. The visit to Arena Gianni Brer will be the first-ever meeting with Internazionale, while the memory of a previous 8-0 aggregate thrashing of Fiorentina offers some comfort when facing Italian opposition.
Home matches against Austria Wien and PSG are followed by away days in Göteborg, Milan, and Munich, with the final league-phase fixture still to be confirmed. The full fixture list will be released by UEFA on Saturday.
For those planning their viewing, Disney+ will broadcast all Women's Champions League matches in the UK, with the BBC showcasing seven fixtures a season free-to-air. Across the Atlantic, matches can be found on CBS Sports Golazo and Paramount+.
City will need to hit the ground running if they are to secure a top-four finish and a direct route to the quarter-finals, with around 13 points likely required based on last year's inaugural edition. Clubs ranked fifth to twelfth enter the play-offs, while the bottom six sides are eliminated after the league phase.