Manchester United Women’s crucial seven days: How they can shape their future on the biggest stage
Manchester United women’s team are on the cusp of one of their most important weeks of the year. It is safe to say that the next three fixtures in the UEFA Women’s Champions League and the Women’s Super League are the biggest in the team’s history. Fittingly, they will also be on the biggest stages.
Marc Skinner’s side start with their first Champions League quarter-final match today against Bayern Munich at Old Trafford — instead of the team’s usual home at Leigh Sports Village — before hosting the Manchester Derby at the same venue on the weekend in the WSL. The club have made arrangements, like free fan zones, to imbue these two fixtures at Old Trafford with a big fight feel. They round out the seven-day swing with the quarter-final return leg next Wednesday at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.
Wednesday’s match will also be the first senior Champions League quarter-final played at Old Trafford since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer led the men’s team out against Barcelona on April 10, 2019. Back then, United Women were the runaway leaders of the FA’s newly-branded Women’s Championship in their first year as an official professional team. They were coming off a 5-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur with goals from Katie Zelem, Mollie Green, Jess Sigsworth and Leah Galton .
United have come a long way since, but now stand at a difficult footballing crossroads, wondering how best to make the leap from good to great. They could advance to the semi-finals of this year’s Champions League and qualify for next or see months of hard work fall flat and watch their cross-town rivals push for the WSL title. On Sunday, a late goal from Melvine Malard delivered a 2-1 win over Everton, sending the team second in the WSL table.
United’s place in the top three places needed for Champions League football next season is not secure. They are one point ahead of Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea, and their three-point lead over Arsenal in fourth could be erased by the Londoners’ two games in hand. In their four full seasons under Skinner, United have finished fourth, second, fifth and third in the league.
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