Manchester City dethroned Chelsea last season, with the latter finishing the domestic competition in third needing to win a two-legged tie to reach the competition. Chelsea have been strong contenders for the European title in recent years, reaching the semi-finals in three of the past four campaigns, but they lost to their rivals Arsenal in a dramatic quarter-final last term.
The qualifying draw was split into two sections, with a “champions path” for winners of their domestic divisions drawn separately to the “league path” which contained domestic runners-up and third-placed sides such as Chelsea.
Real Sociedad finished third in Liga F last season, earning a qualification spot, only their second in recent history. They reached qualifiers in 2022-23 but were unable to make it out of the second round losing both games. Real Sociedad, based in San Sebastián, finished third in Spain’s top division last term behind Real Madrid and Barcelona.
WSL champions Manchester City and runners-up Arsenal have already qualified for the league phase, along with defending champions Barcelona. Sonia Bompastor’s side will hope to join Arsenal and Manchester City in the main phase of the competition.