UEFA Women's Champions League quarterfinals: Arsenal face Chelsea, Barcelona face Real Madrid in marquee games

It's two domestic league grudge matches as England's best and Spain's best battle for spots in the semifinals

Sandra Herrera

Mar 23, 2026

5:27 pm ET

•

3 min read

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The 2025-26 UEFA Women's Champions League is back in action with the quarterfinal rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first legs of the quarterfinals are headlined by rivalries, including an all-London clash between current title holders Arsenal and Chelsea, and a meeting between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

The bracket also features match-ups between eight-time Champions League winners OL Lyonnes and Wolfsburg, and quarterfinal debutants Manchester United will face Bayern Munich.

Here's what's at stake:

How to watch

Paramount+ and CBS Sports Network will each be a one-stop shop for the first leg of the Women's Champions League knockout phase playoffs, with both platforms simulcasting all coverage and every minute of the action. Coverage will begin with a new edition of the UEFA Women's Champions League Today pre-match show before the early match, while studio coverage resumes in between matches and concludes with the post-match show to recap the action on Wednesday and Thursday.

Quarterfinal first leg schedule

All times U.S./Eastern

Tuesday, March 24

- Wolfsburg vs. OL Lyonnes, 1:45 p.m. (Paramount+, CBS Sports Network)

- Arsenal vs. Chelsea, 4 p.m. (Paramount+, CBS Sports Network)

Wednesday, March 25

- Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 1:45 p.m. (Paramount+, CBS Sports Network)

- Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich, 4 p.m. (Paramount+, CBS Sports Network)

Quarterfinal second leg schedule

All times U.S./Eastern

Wednesday, April 1

- Bayern Munich vs. Manchester United, 1:45 p.m. (Paramount+, CBS Sports Network)

- Chelsea vs. Arsenal, 3 p.m. (Paramount+, CBS Sports Network)

Thursday, April 2

- Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, 1:45 p.m. (Paramount+, CBS Sports Network)

- OL Lyonnes vs. Wolfsburg, 3 p.m. (Paramount+, CBS Sports Network)

Storylines for UWCL quarterfinals

Emily Fox sits down with Attacking Third ahead of the big game: For Arsenal and Chelsea, the two sides are stepping into a new frontier of their domestic rivalry. It's one that's long defined English football, highlighted by the fact that the Gunners are the only English side to have won the Women's Champions League.

Despite all the success at home, the Blues have won eight Women's Super League titles since 2015, and are reigning domestic winners, but the two sides have each gotten the better of each other in recent meetings. Arsenal defeated Chelsea 2-0 back in January, but the Blues are coming off a big FA Cup win against Manchester United on March 15.

The meeting will also showcase U.S. women's national team players for both teams, Alyssa Thompson and Naomi Girma with Chelsea, and Emily Fox with Arsenal. Fox recently spoke with CBS Sports Attacking Third podcast about the upcoming quarterfinal

'I would say every year is different, and to treat the same with just the Champions League, it's crazy. It's unpredictable. You don't know what's going to happen," Fox said about the upcoming match against rivals Chelsea.

"And so with that approach, I mean playing Chelsea, we played them before, but it's Champions League. We know that it's going to be an extremely hard game, and they're in top form, but I think with that, we're up for it. We just played them away and had a good performance there, but we know that this game is entirely different from the one that we played in January," she said.

Which version of Real Madrid will show up?: This will no doubt be a showcase of multiple internationals who represent Spain, but there will be no camaraderie when it comes to representing different clubs.

The two teams met once before during the 2021-22 quarterfinals, with Barcelona winning 3-1, though both sides are much different squads as they approach their second quarterfinal match. Barcelona has typically dominated the rivalry domestically and in the Champions League, with their most recent win coming just last month in the Copa de la Reina quarterfinal. Now with Caroline Weir and Linda Caicedo as part of the squad this time, anything can happen in high-stakes football.

It won't be easy, though. Barcelona have been the most dominant team in the tournament this campaign, and having won 18 meetings against Real Madrid, the Catalonians are the team to chase.

Will German teams spoil the party?: Everyone loves an underdog story, and Manchester United is riding the wave of momentum right now. They'll face an equally good side in Bayern Munich, who also have an opportunity to show audiences that they're in the tournament to compete for Europe's biggest prize. Wolfsburg will relish a similar moment to remind tournament fans that while eight-time champions OL Lyonnes are constant contenders, the Germans are now strangers to being title-winne