The UEFA Women’s Champions League is back, with some tantalising quarter-final clashes to whet our appetites.

England is the first nation to have three teams in the last eight in the same season, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City all still in the hunt for continental glory.

But those Women’s Super League sides face some fierce competition, with Bayern Munich, Lyon, Real Madrid, Wolfsburg and holders Barcelona completing a stellar line-up.

Chelsea are on the brink of history as they prepare to face Man City in the first leg of their quarter-final tie on Wednesday. The Blues are just one game away from setting the longest unbeaten streak by a WSL team across all competitions. Their run already stands at a staggering 31 games.

Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor’s legacy in this tournament is unrivalled, as she is the only coach to win it both as manager and as a player, but it remains a competition the Blues are yet to win.

Bompastor is having an incredible maiden season, though, and if any manager is to end Chelsea’s wait for European glory, surely it will be her.

With four of the eight sides still involved being former champions, the calibre of teams couldn’t get any better, so let’s run through all the key data ahead of this week’s ties and review who will come out on top according to the Opta supercomputer.

Real Madrid v Arsenal

This will be the first-ever competitive meeting between Real Madrid and Arsenal, with the Spanish giants at home for Tuesday’s first leg.

Both teams have specific continental records they will be keen to address. For Las Blancas, they are winless in six previous meetings with English sides in the UWCL, all of which have come against Chelsea (D2 L4).

However, the Gunners have failed to win their last three away games in the knockout stage of the competition (D1 L2), not winning a road knockout clash since the 2019-20 season when they defeated Slavia Prague 5-2 in the round of 16.

Arsenal are regulars in the latter stages of Europe, though. The Gunners and Lyon are in the last eight for a joint-record 16th time and Arsenal have won each of their last five games in the competition, their joint-longest ever winning streak (also achieved from September 2012-March 2013).

They have found their form under Renee Slegers, banishing the memory of their 5-2 loss to Bayern on matchday one, when Jonas Eidevall was still in charge.

Madrid will pose a big threat, and Signe Bruun has been directly involved in more goals than any other player in the UWCL so far this season with eight, having scored five goals and added three assists. That is already the most goal involvements in a single edition of the competition recorded by a Madrid player.

Only Barcelona (26) scored more goals than Madrid (20) in this season’s group stage, while only Barca (+7.9) exceeded their expected goals tally by more than Las Blancas (13.6 xG, +6.4 xG performance).

The Gunners’ biggest threat will likely be Mariona Caldentey. 

Only Lyon’s Lindsey Heaps (162) has completed more passes in the final third of the pitch than Caldentey (160) in this season’s competition.

The Spain international has also found the net with a superb 50% of her shots (four out of eight), the most clinical finishing for any player with at least three goals to their name.

The Opta supercomputer predicts this one will go in favour of the Gunners. Arsenal built a first-leg lead in 52.0% of our simulations, with the draw a worthy candidate at 23.1% and Madrid’s win probability at 24.9%

Bayern Munich v Lyon

Lyon have won their last six UWCL knockout stage ties with German opposition (including three finals), since they were eliminated in the round of 16 in 2013-14 by 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam.

The most successful club in the competition’s history, Lyon will feel confident going into this tie.

Lyon trailed for a total of just three minutes in this season’s group stage, conceding just one goal.

The French giants have lost just one of their last 43 away games in the knockout stages of the competition (W35 D7).

Bayern, on the other hand, have lost two of their three meetings in the competition with Lyon, though they did win their most recent one, 1-0 at home in the 2021-22 group stage.

Lyon came out on top in 46.8% of the supercomputer’s data-led simulations. Bayern, who have not won the Champions League, have a 28.7% chance of taking an advantage into the second leg.

Though they may be underdogs, Bayern do have some excellent attackers to call on, and in particular, Pernille Harder. She has scored 10 goals across her last six quarter-final appearances in this competition, so she certainly knows where the net is at this stage of the tournament.

Indeed, Harder and Lyon’s Ada Hegerberg have plundered the most goals in the Champions League knockout stage (13).

One area Bayern will need to be particularly strong on if they are to progress from this tie is from set-pieces. Lyon have scored nine goals from corners in this season’s competition, more than any other team.

Wolfsburg v Barcelona

This will be the first meeting between Wolfsburg and Barcelona in the UWCL since the 2022-23 final, when Barca came from 2-0 down at half-time to win 3-2 in Eindhoven. T

Wolfsburg have progressed from three of their last four quarter-final ties in the UCWL, progressing past Paris Saint-Germain in their most recent one in 2022-23; only Lyon (13 times) have reached the semi-final stage of the competition more often than Wolfsburg (eight times.)

Conversely, Barcelona have progressed from each of their last 16 two-legged knockout stage ties in the competition, since they were eliminated by Lyon in the 2017-18 quarter-finals.

Only Lyon (runs of 17 and 20) have ever put longer such streaks together in the competition’s history.

So how does our Supercomputer see this one?

You might think this would be a close call, but Opta’s model actually gives Barcelona the biggest chance of winning of any team across the four first legs, at 58.5%. The draw, at 21.2%, is ever so slightly more likely than a Wolfsburg victory (20.3%).

Wolfsburg and Barcelona had more shots than any other teams in the group stage – combined, they had 299 attempts (152 for Wolfsburg, 147 for FCB). So, expect plenty of goalmouth action, with some stellar attackers on show.

Wolfsburg’s Alexandra Popp has had more attempts (26) than any other player in the Champions League this term – she has scored four goals.

And let’s not forget Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati, who has been directly involved in 28 goals in 28 UWCL matches over the last three seasons (13 goals, 15 assists).

Barca are aiming to equal Lyon's record of reaching five straight finals (between 2016 and 2020). They are also striving to become the second club after Lyon to win three titles in a row.

Manchester City v Chelsea

This is the second of four clashes between these WSL rivals in the space of 12 days, across three competitions.

It is advantage Chelsea after their 2-1 victory in Saturday's Women’s League Cup final – a late own goal from Yui Hasegawa seeing Bompastor clinch her first piece of silverware as Blues boss.

This will be just the second UWCL tie between two English sides after Birmingham City eliminated Arsenal in the 2013-14 quarter-finals.

City have won just one of their last eight home games against Chelsea in all competitions (D3, L4), a 2-0 victory in the WSL in March 2023. The most recent meeting between the pair in front of City’s fans saw the Blues win 1-0 in last season’s League Cup semi-final.

Chelsea have spent more time in a leading position in the UWCL this season more than any other team (474 minutes). The Blues also have the best 100% progression rate at the quarter-final stage of the competition (5/5), reaching the semi-finals in the last two campaigns.

Keira Walsh will go up against her former club, having slotted in seamlessly at Chelsea since her January move from Barca. Only two midfielders have a better pass accuracy in the UWCL this season than Walsh (93.0%); the England international has ended on the losing side in just two of her last 22 appearances in the competition (W18 D2).

Aoba Fujino is certainly a player Chelsea must keep under lock and key. She has scored or assisted five of City’s last nine Champions League goals (two goals, three assists). She has also struck the opposition woodwork more times than any other player this season (three), and netted City’s goal in the League Cup final.

The Opta supercomputer is forecasting a tightly contested encounter, which is the most likely to finish level across the four matches this week.

Chelsea, with a record-setting 32nd unbeaten game firmly in their sights, are given a 43.6% chance of securing the win, with the draw given a 25.2% chance as they bid to make history. They are currently level with their own unbeaten record for a WSL team, set in September 2020.

But those probabilities also mean City are more likely than not to avoid defeat in the opening leg, as they are given a 56.4% chance of doing so. While Chelsea are seen as the more likely victors on Wednesday, City do have a relatively healthy 31.2% win probability.

The quadruple is on for Chelsea, who are leading the WSL table comfortably and have already secured one trophy, but this double-header – which comes either side of a league meeting with Nick Cushing’s team – will be a real litmus test.