Cheap Chelsea Football Shirts is the only English team trying to win the only trophy missing during Emma Hayes’ illustrious tenure.
On Tuesday, it travels to Amsterdam to face Ajax in the first leg of the last-eight final, while series winners Lyon and Barcelona are still in contention for silverware.
Benfica and Norway’s Brann have already made history by reaching the knockout stage for the first time, with Swedish champion Hacken and Paris St-Germain, who knocked out Manchester United in the second round, completing the draw.
Ajax v Chelsea
There are only a few months left in Hayes’ 12-year tenure as Chelsea manager, during which he has won a host of trophies, and the future United boss is determined to go out on a high.
Despite losing star striker Sam Kerr to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, Chelsea are still battling for a quartet of titles and the only trophy that has eluded them under Hayes’ management is the Champions League.
After qualifying top of a group that included Real Madrid, FC Paris and Hacken, the Blues completed their squad for the knockout stages with new signings Nathalie Bjorn and Mayra Ramirez, as well as fit summer signing Catarina Macario.
Chelsea lost to Barcelona in the semi-finals last season, but to get there again they will have to go through Cheap Ajax Football Shirts, who overcame the odds to advance from a group that also included Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain and Roma.
The Dutch champion finished second behind PSG and reached the last eight for the first time, becoming only the second Dutch team to reach this stage after Saestrum in the 2006/07 season.
Benfica v Lyon
The eight-time winners from Lyon fought their way through their qualifying group, in which the 9-0 win over Slavia Prague stood out in particular.
After being knocked out by Chelsea on penalties in last season’s quarter-finals, the French champions will look to advance considerably further as they attempt to reclaim the trophy they last won in 2021-22.
Considering they met Benfica in the group stage that year and won both games 5-0, they will be confident of progressing from this fixture.
However, Benfica will believe they have improved significantly since then after getting an entertaining 4-4 result at home to Barcelona in the group stage and qualifying ahead of four-time winners Frankfurt.
The Lisbon team is the first Portuguese club to make it through to the last eight, and if the group stage matches have shown anything, it’s that Benfica’s games tend to be dramatic.
However, goals have eluded them against the big clubs, so Lyon duo Kadidiatou Diani and Ada Hegerberg will be keen to add to the five goals they scored in the group games.
Hacken v Paris St-Germain
It’s been 11 years since Hacken were last in the quarter-finals – then called Goteborg FC – after finishing ahead of Real Madrid and FC Paris in the group stage.
To get this far, they beat Eredivisie leader Vrouwen Twente and now face PSG, the beaten finalists in 2014-15 and 2016-17.
French striker Marie-Antoinette Katot led PSG in the group, scoring four goals, but she is far from the only threat.
Malawian striker Tabitha Chawinga is having a great first season in Paris and with 14 goals in all competitions possesses a real threat for Hacken.
Brann v Barcelona
Brann made history just by qualifying for the group stage but not finishing in it.
They impressed in both games against Lyon and managed to get a dramatic 2-0 draw against Sonia Bompastora’s side at home to secure second place in the group.
But now Barcelona, the dominant side in European women’s football, await them.
The Catalans won their second Champions League in three seasons last year, beating Wolfsburg 3-2 in the final.
Now they will be looking to win again in coach Jonatan Giraldez’s final season.
The thirty-two-year-old coach has announced that he will leave at the end of the season after a phenomenally successful season in which he has lost just one league game since his appointment in 2021.
Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati leads a star-studded squad that includes England’s Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh. Brann pulling off the win would be a major upset.
Chelsea, under the guidance of coach Emma Hayes last season, are aiming for Champions League glory. Lyon, Barcelona and Cheap PSG Football Shirts, these are all big challenges. In this serious situation, Benfica, Haken and Brann are still trying to beat experienced opponents.
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