Arsenal celebrate in Women's Champions League
Arsenal are the only British team to have won the Women's Champions League, having done so in 2007

The Women's Super League has seen a lot of changes in the last 15 years.

The last time an English team won the European trophy was in 2007, when the only British team lifted the trophy.

Women's football in England is arguably in the best place it has ever been, as evidenced by the fact that two of the top teams in Europe are preparing to play each other this week.

On Wednesday, they face Lyon, who have never beaten them, and on Thursday, they face Paris-StGermain.

Can English teams compete with the European powerhouses?

  • What to look out for in the Women's Champions League

England has had 12 semi-finalists over the last 21 years. The list of finals has the same names over and over.

There is still a long way to go before Europe's elite teams can be knocked off their perch, according to a player who won the European Championship with Lyon.

She said that to be competing in the later stages you need to reach the quarter-finals or semi-finals on a yearly basis.

You need the experience of being in those later stages.

When they made the final in 2021, they were overwhelmed by Barcelona.

Christiansen said that the domestic league has established a "winning machine", but that this season the team is better equipped to compete in Europe.

Since winning the tournament in 2007, they've reached the semi-finals three years in a row, but haven't won a trophy.

Christiansen says that the squad and bench atArsenal have a good quality. If they can keep the squad fit, especially Kim Little and Lia Walti, they could do well.

Getting used to playing at the weekend and in midweek can be a challenge for Christiansen, who reached the semi-finals with Manchester City.

She says that the best place to try and beat Lyon in the semi-finals was at City. The manager at the time, Nick Cushing, was very smart and we were close to beating them.

For the last two seasons, City have missed out on the group stage because they lost out in the qualification rounds to Real Madrid.

Women's Champions League finals

'Ridiculously hard groups'

In Group C, the teams will face off against each other, as well as Lyon and Real Madrid, while in Group A, the teams will face off against each other.

Both have really hard groups. "If they can get out of that group they will see that as knocking out at least one of the favorites."

During her time at the French giants, Christiansen said she could feel the difference in the atmosphere.

She said that the step up in training was clear. They were the best in their positions. Training was fast and intense.

In my opinion, the players in the domestic league in France were not as good as they could have been, apart from the matches against Paris Saint-Germain.

The WSL needs to be more competitive in order for an English club to win the European Championship, she said.

Many of England's European Championship-winning squad ply their trade in the WSL but with high-profile players moving abroad this summer, there is still a clear pull towards the continent.

Christiansen said that they think they have a better chance of winning the European Championship with Barcelona than they do with us.

I'm sure there are other players who think they could win the title with the two teams.

There has been an increase in the number of European players moving to the WSL.

A record fee was paid for Pernille Harder, a two-time European champion, as well as the addition of five-time European champion Kadeisha Buchanan to the squad.

The signings of Miedema and Hurtig were testaments to the intent of the boss.

The depth in the squad indicates they are ready to fight on all fronts this year, and the manager has previously stated that the club's European ambition was part of the reason he joined.

There's a difference between beating a team in the WSL and beating a team in Europe. You can't ignore the previous success of the club, but when they won the trophy they had a really strong squad.

Christiansen believes it's important to have the experience of being in the final stages of the tournament, as four of the last eight seasons didn't have an English semi-finalist.

We are a couple of years away from an English team winning it. I don't think we're there yet, but we have a great squad.

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