Barcelona will face Chelsea and Arsenal will tackle Lyon as the four remaining teams in the UEFA Women's Champions League aim to reach the final at Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon on 24 May.
We introduce the contenders.
Barcelona vs Chelsea in Europe
2023 /24 semi-finals: Barcelona 0-1/2-0 Chelsea (agg: 2-1)
2022/23 semi-finals: Chelsea 0-1/1-1 Barcelona (agg: 1-2)
2020/21 final: Chelsea 0-4 Barcelona (Gothenburg)
First-named team at home in opening leg of two-legged ties
Last season, Chelsea achieved the feat of being the first team to win away at Barcelona in the 2020s. However, the Blaugrana then became the first side to lose the first leg of a semi-final at home in this competition and still reach the decider since both Frankfurt and Turbine Potsdam in 2005/06.
UEFA coefficient ranking (end of 2023/24): 1
How they qualified: Holders, Spanish champions
Group stage: Group D winners (L0-2 a vs Man City, W9-0 h vs Hammarby, W7-0 h vs St. Pölten, W4-1 a vs St. Pölten, W3-0 a vs Hammarby, W3-0 h vs Man City)
Quarter-finals: W10-2agg vs Wolfsburg (W4-1 a, W6-1 h)
Top scorer: Clàudia Pina (7)
Last season: Winners
Domestic honours: 9 x League champions, 10 x Cup winners
Previous European best: Winners (2020/21, 2022/23, 2023/24)
Semi-final record: W5 L2
Previous semi-finals
2023/24: W2-1agg vs Chelsea (L0-1 h, W2-0 a)
2022/23: W2-1agg vs Chelsea (W1-0 a, D1-1 h)
2021/22: W5-3agg vs Wolfsburg (W5-1 h, L0-2 a)
2020/21: W3-2agg vs Paris Saint-Germain (D1-1 a, W2-1 h)
2019/20: L0-1 vs Wolfsburg (n, San Sebastián)
2018/19: W2-0agg vs Bayern München (W1-0 a, W1-0 h)
2016/17: L1-5agg vs Paris Saint-Germain (L1-3 h, L0-2 a)
Campaign in a nutshell
Something odd happened on Matchday 1: Barcelona lost, beaten 2-0 by an excellent Man City performance. However, seven days later they put nine goals past a Hammarby side who had knocked out Benfica and beaten St. Pölten on Matchday 1, and from there the holders cruised through with little fuss.
Still, going into Matchday 6, Barça needed to 'overturn' their 2-0 loss at City in the rematch to finish first, but they looked comfortable in a 3-0 win, becoming the only team to top their group in all four seasons under this format.
Wolfsburg awaited in the quarter-finals, and the tie was effectively ended as a contest in the away leg, the reigning champions prevailing 4-1 before they cruised to a 6-1 win at home to seal progression.
Coach: Pere Romeu
Romeu was a defensive midfielder as a player with amateur side Sarrià, where he also began coaching at youth level. He then became a youth coach at L'Hospitalet, before being recruited by Barcelona in 2017.
At La Masia, Romeu assisted Sergi Milà at Under-16 and U17 level, before taking his first senior role as number two to Rubén de la Barrera during his brief spell at Romania's Viitorul Constanța in 2020.
Romeu returned to Barcelona in 2021 as assistant to new women's coach Jonatan Giráldez, winning ten trophies over three seasons, including two Champions League titles. When Giráldez decided to move on after the 2023/24 season, Romeu was promoted to replace him.
Did you know?
Barça have become the first team to reach the semi-finals seven seasons in a row. They are now aiming to equal Lyon's record of five consecutive finals as they continue their bid for a title hat-trick.
UEFA coefficient ranking (end of 2023/24): 6
How they qualified: English champions
Group stage: Group B winners (W3-2 h vs Real Madrid, W3-1 a vs Twente, W2-1 a vs Celtic, W3-0 h vs Celtic, W6-1 h vs Twente, W2-1 a vs Real Madrid)
Quarter-finals: W3-2agg vs Manchester City (L0-2 a, W3-0 h)
Top scorers: Catarina Macario, Mayra Ramírez (3)
Last season: Semi-finals
Domestic honours: 7 x League champions, 5 x Cup winners
Previous European best: Runners-up (2020/21)
Semi-final record: W1 L4
Previous semi-finals
2023/24: L1-2agg vs Barcelona (W1-0 a, L0-2 h)
2022/23: L1-2agg vs Barcelona (L0-1 h, D1-1 a)
2020/21: W5-3agg vs Bayern München (L1-2 a, W4-1 h)
2018/19: L2-3agg vs Lyon (L1-2 a, D1-1 h)
2017/18: L1-5agg vs Wolfsburg (L1-3 h, L0-2 a)
Campaign in a nutshell
Before this season, the question was whether Chelsea would remain the force they were under Emma Hayes after the end of her stellar 12-year spell in charge. Sonia Bompastor and her team soon answered that as the French coach achieved something she never even managed at Lyon, winning all six group games.
Real Madrid gave them the most problems, almost overturning a 3-1 deficit at Stamford Bridge and forcing Chelsea to come from behind on Matchday 6, after the Blues had also needed to recover from conceding first away against Celtic.
First place and quarter-final seeding did not spare Chelsea from a tricky tie against Man City, and things looked bleak when they lost the away leg 2-0 in Manchester to a Vivianne Miedema double.
However, Chelsea defeated City in the League Cup final and in the Women's Super League either side of that game, and in the Stamford Bridge return they laid down a marker as three first-half goals earned them another comeback victory.
Coach: Sonia Bompastor
Bompastor's illustrious playing career included 11 major honours in her two spells with Lyon, where she lifted the Champions League trophy as captain in 2010/11 and 2011/12. A midfielder who could play in defence, Bompastor also represented La Roche-sur-Yon, Montpellier, Washington Freedom and Paris Saint-Germain.
Capped 156 times by France, she retired in 2013 and worked her way up the coaching ranks at Lyon before taking over the first team in 2021, winning the French league and Champions League the following season – when she became the first person to grasp Champions League glory as both a player and coach.
Bompastor guided OL to a French double in 2022/23 and a third league title in 2023/24, when her team also reached another Champions League final. She then replaced the US-bound Hayes at Chelsea, clinching the League Cup in March to culminate a 28-game unbeaten start as coach.
Did you know?
Catarina Macario was part of Bompastor's Lyon side that won the 2022 final, while Lucy Bronze (2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024) and Keira Walsh (2023, 2024) also finished on the victorious side in finals before joining Chelsea.
Arsenal vs Lyon
Arsenal vs Lyon in Europe
2022/23 group stage: Lyon 1-5 Arsenal, Arsenal 0-1 Lyon
2010/11 semi-finals: Lyon 2-0/3-2 Arsenal (agg: 5-2)
2008/09 second qualifying round: Lyon 3-0 Arsenal (played in Lyon)
2007/08 quarter-finals: Lyon 0-0/3-2 Arsenal (agg: 3-2)
First-named team at home in opening leg of two-legged ties
Lyon ended Arsenal's reign as holders in the club's first-ever European knockout tie in 2007/08, but it was a different story in 2022/23 as the Gunners inflicted OL's heaviest home defeat on Matchday 1.
In between those meetings, the clubs faced off in the 2010/11 semi-finals, Eugénie Le Sommer scoring twice in Lyon's 3-2 second-leg win. Wendie Renard and Kim Little also featured in that tie.
All Arsenal's Women's Champions League 2024/25 goals
UEFA coefficient ranking (end of 2023/24): 7
How they qualified: Third place in England; W6-0 h vs Rangers, W1-0 h vs Rosenborg, W4-1agg vs Häcken (L0-1 a, W4-0 h)
Group stage: Group C winners (L2-5 a vs Bayern München, W4-1 h vs Vålerenga, W4-0 a vs Juventus, W1-0 h vs Juventus, W3-1 a vs Vålerenga, W3-2 h vs Bayern München)
Quarter-finals: W3-2agg vs Real Madrid (L0-2 a, W3-0 h)
Top scorer (group stage onwards): Alessia Russo (6)
Last season: Round 1 final
Domestic honours: 15 x League champions, 14 x Cup winners
Previous European best: Winners (2006/07)
Semi-final record: W1 L6
Previous semi-finals
2022/23: L4-5agg vs Wolfsburg (D2-2 a, L2-3aet h)
2012/13: L1-4agg vs Wolfsburg (L0-2 h, L1-2 a)
2011/12: L1-4agg vs Frankfurt (L1-2 h, L0-2 a)
2010/11: L2-5agg vs Lyon (L0-2 a, L2-3 h)
2006/07: W5-2agg vs Brøndby (D2-2 a, W3-0 h)
2004/05: L1-2 agg vs Djurgården (D1-1 a, L0-1 h)
2002/03: L2-8agg vs Fortuna Hjørring (L1-3 a, L1-5 h)
Campaign in a nutshell
Arsenal have produced some memorable comebacks over the years and that has been the story of this campaign as well. After getting past round 1 (where they fell to Paris FC last season), the Gunners then overturned a first-leg deficit against Häcken to reach the group stage, which they kicked off with a 5-2 loss at Bayern München.
Renée Slegers subsequently took over from Jonas Eidevall as coach and her side won their remaining five group fixtures, edging Bayern 3-2 on Matchday 6 to snare first place. And although they lost their quarter-final opener 2-0 at Real Madrid, Arsenal roared back to win 3-0 at home, Russo striking either side of a Mariona Caldentey header early in the second half.
Coach: Renée Slegers
Slegers enjoyed a successful playing career, winning more than 50 caps with the Netherlands and playing briefly for Arsenal at youth level before later spells with Willem II, Djurgården and Linköping. However, the knee injury that ended her career at the age of 29 also denied her a place in the Netherlands squad that won Women's EURO 2017 on home soil.
After retirement, Slegers qualified as a coach in Sweden and took charge of Limhamn Bunkeflo in 2018, while also scouting for the Netherlands at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
After briefly becoming Sweden U23 coach in 2021, she was appointed assistant to Eidevall at Rosengård, later taking charge of the club when he moved to Arsenal. Having clinched Swedish titles in 2021 and 2022, Slegers left Rosengård in April 2023 and became Eidevall's number two at Arsenal five months later, earning promotion after his October 2024 departure – initially as caretaker then permanently in January.
Did you know?
Against Madrid, Arsenal became only the second team to overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit in the quarter-finals – matching their own feat against Torres in 2004/05.
All Lyon's Women's Champions League 2024/25 goals
UEFA coefficient ranking (end of 2023/24): 2
How they qualified: French champions
Group stage: Group A winners (W3-0 h vs Galatasaray, W2-0 a vs Wolfsburg, W3-0 a vs Roma, W4-1 h vs Roma, W6-0 a vs Galatasaray, W1-0 h vs Wolfsburg)
Quarter-finals: W6-1agg vs Bayern München (W2-0 a, W4-1 h)
Top scorer: Kadidiatou Diani (5)
Last season: Runners-up
Domestic honours: 17 x League champions, 10 x Cup winners
Previous European best: Winners (2010/11, 2011/12, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2021/22)
Semi-final record: W11 L2
Previous semi-finals
2023/24: W5-3agg vs Paris Saint-Germain (W3-2 h, W2-1 a)
2021/22: W5-3agg vs Paris Saint-Germain (W3-2 h, W2-1 a)
2019/20: W1-0 vs Paris Saint-Germain (n, Bilbao)
2018/19: W3-2agg vs Chelsea (W2-1 h, D1-1 a)
2017/18: W1-0agg vs Manchester City (D0-0 a, W1-0 h)
2016/17: W3-2agg vs Manchester City (W3-1 a, L0-1 h)
2015/16: W8-0agg vs Paris Saint-Germain (W7-0 h, W1-0 a)
2012/13: W9-1agg vs Juvisy* (W3-0 h, W6-1 a)
2011/12: W5-1agg vs Turbine Potsdam (W5-1 h, D0-0 a)
2010/11: W5-2agg vs Arsenal (W2-0 h, W3-2 a)
2009/10: W3-2agg vs Umeå (W3-2 h, D0-0 a)
2008/09: L2-4agg vs Duisburg (D1-1 h, L1-3 a)
2007/08: L1-1agg, away goals vs Umeå (D1-1 h, D0-0 a)
*now Paris FC
Campaign in a nutshell
Lyon ended their last season under Sonia Bompastor by reaching the Champions League final, losing to Barcelona. And they began their first campaign under Joe Montemurro with an ominous group stage display, gaining a maximum 18 points for the first time and conceding just one goal – no mean achievement with Wolfsburg and Roma among the opposition.
They also faced German opposition in the quarter-finals, taking on Bayern for a berth in the last four. Lyon promptly continued their fine run as Tabitha Chawinga and Melchie Dumornay both scored in a 2-0 away win. The duo pounced again in the return as OL recovered from trailing at half-time to prevail 4-1, with Kadidiatou Diani and Ada Hegerberg also on target.
Coach: Joe Montemurro
Australian-born of Italian descent, Montemurro began his playing career in his native Melbourne with Brunswick Juventus, and he also spent time in Europe with Swiss side Neuchâtel Xamax and Italian clubs Potenza and Opitergina. Montemurro returned to Australia as a youth coach with Green Gully, Melbourne Knights and South Melbourne, before leading senior sides Sunshine George Cross, Coburg United and Port Moresby.
After earning his Pro Licence in Italy, Montemurro became coach of women's side Melbourne Victory and then Melbourne City, winning two league titles. In 2016, Montemurro joined the Melbourne City men's set-up, but the following year he took over Arsenal's women's team, winning the 2018/19 league title.
He then switched to Juventus in 2021, claiming an Italian double in his first season and reaching the Champions League last eight. After another Coppa Italia win in 2022/23, Montemurro left in March 2024 and was appointed by Lyon that June.
Did you know?
Lyon have reached an unmatched 11 finals in winning their record eight titles, and their tally of 14 semi-finals is six more than anyone else. The second leg against Bayern took them to 150 European games.
Cup winners refers only to main FA national cup in each country.
Where is the 2025 UEFA Women's Champions League final being played?
Getty Images
Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon will stage the 2025 UEFA Women's Champions League final on Saturday 24 May.
The home of Sporting CP opened in 2003 ahead of UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal, replacing another stadium of the same name. It hosted a semi-final of that tournament, among other games, and was the venue for the UEFA Cup decider the following year.
The 2025 final will be the second Women's Champions League showpiece to be held in Lisbon after 2014, when Estádio do Restelo staged Wolfsburg's 4-3 win against Tyresö.