The 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 19th edition of the European women's club football championship organised by UEFA, and the 11th edition since being rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League.
The competition was postponed indefinitely on 17 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. The final, originally scheduled to be played on 24 May 2020 at the Generali Arena in Vienna, Austria, was officially postponed on 23 March 2020. On 17 June 2020, UEFA announced that the remaining matches, including the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, would be played between 21 and 30 August at San Mamés, Bilbao and Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastián in Basque Country, Spain behind closed doors, as an eight-team single-match knockout tournament, with San Sebastián hosting the final.
Lyon were the defending champions, having won the previous four editions. They successfully defended their title after defeating VfL Wolfsburg 3–1 in the final for their fifth consecutive and seventh overall title. For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system was used in the competition, where it was implemented in the final.
Association team allocation The association ranking based on the UEFA women's country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association: Associations 1–12 each had two teams qualify. All other associations, if they entered, each had one team qualify. The winners of the 2018–19 UEFA Women's Champions League were given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League through their domestic league.
An association had to have an eleven-a-side women's domestic league to enter a team.
Association ranking For the 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2018 UEFA women's country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2013–14 to 2017–18.
+Association ranking for 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions LeagueRankAssociationCoeff.Teams183.0002278.000359.000459.000549.000636.500735.000834.500933.0001031.5001125.5001225.5001325.00011424.0001524.0001621.0001720.0001819.0001918.000RankAssociationCoeff.Teams2014.50012113.0002212.5002312.0002412.0002512.0002611.0002710.5002810.000299.500309.500319.000328.500338.500346.500356.000365.000373.500RankAssociationCoeff.Teams383.5001393.000402.000412.000422.000431.000441.000450.500460.500470.000480.000490.000——DNE———— Notes TH – Additional berth for title holders NR – No rank (association did not enter in any of the seasons used for computing coefficients) DNE – Did not enter
Distribution Unlike the men's Champions League, not every association entered a team, and so the exact number of teams entering in the qualifying round (played as mini-tournaments with four teams in each group) and knockout phase (starting from the round of 32, played as home-and-away two-legged ties except for the one-match final) could not be determined until the full entry list was known. In general, the title holders, the champions of the top 12 associations, and the runners-up of highest-ranked associations (exact number depending on the number of entries) received a bye to the round of 32. All other teams (runners-up of lowest-ranked associations and champions of associations starting from 13th) entered the qualifying round, with the group winners and a maximum of two best runners-up advancing to the round of 32.
The following is the access list for this season.
+Access list for 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions LeagueTeams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundQualifying round(40 teams)38 champions from associations 13 or lower 2 runners-up from associations 11–12Knockout phase(32 teams)12 champions from associations 1–12 (including title holders Lyon) 10 runners-up from associations 1–1010 group winners from qualifying round
Teams A record of 62 teams from 50 of the 55 UEFA member associations entered this season's competition. Armenia sent their first team since the inaugural edition in 2001–02.
Legend TH: Title holders CH: Domestic league champions RU: Domestic league runners-up
+Entry roundTeamsRound of 32 VfL Wolfsburg Bayern Munich Lyon TH Paris Saint-Germain Arsenal Manchester City Piteå Kopparbergs/Göteborg Atlético Madrid Barcelona Brøndby Fortuna Hjørring Sparta Prague Slavia Prague Juventus Fiorentina Zurich Lugano Ryazan-VDV Chertanovo Moscow Glasgow City St. Pölten Qualifying round Hibernian Sturm Graz Twente BIIK Kazygurt LSK Kvinner Breiðablik Górnik Łęczna Gintra Universitetas Apollon Limassol Spartak Subotica Beşiktaş Anderlecht FC Minsk Olimpia Cluj Ferencváros SFK 2000 SC Braga Pomurje PAOK PK-35 Vantaa Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv Split Wexford Youths Flora ASA Tel Aviv NSA Sofia Vllaznia Slovan Bratislava EB/Streymur/Skála Breznica Pljevlja Cardiff Met. Linfield Mitrovica Rīgas FS Agarista-ȘS Anenii Noi Birkirkara Dragon 2014 Bettembourg Tbilisi Nike Alashkert
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland).
The competition was postponed indefinitely on 17 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. The final, originally scheduled to be played on 24 May 2020 at the Viola Park, Vienna, was officially postponed on 23 March 2020. A working group was set up by UEFA to decide the calendar of the remainder of the season, with the final decision made at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting on 17 June 2020.
+Schedule for 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League Round Draw First leg Second leg Qualifying round 21 June 2019 7, 10 & 13 August 2019 Round of 32 16 August 2019 11–12 September 2019 25–26 September 2019 Round of 16 30 September 2019 16–17 October 2019 30–31 October 2019 Quarter-finals 8 November 2019 21–22 August 2020 at San Mamés, Bilbao and Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastián Semi-finals 25–26 August 2020 at San Mamés, Bilbao and Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastián Final 30 August 2020 at Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastián
Qualifying round
The draw of the qualifying round was held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on 21 June 2019, 13:30 CEST. The 40 teams were allocated into four seeding positions based on their UEFA women's club coefficients at the beginning of the season. They were drawn into ten groups of four containing one team from each of the four seeding positions. First, the ten teams which were pre-selected as hosts were drawn from their own designated pot and allocated to their respective group as per their seeding positions. Next, the remaining 30 teams were drawn from their respective pot which are allocated according to their seeding positions.
In each group, teams played against each other in a round-robin mini-tournament at the pre-selected hosts. The ten group winners advanced to the round of 32 to join the 22 teams which received a bye. The matches were played on 7, 10 and 13 August 2019.
Tiebreakers
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8
Group 9
Group 10
Knockout phase
Bracket
Round of 32
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Statistics Top goalscorers There were 490 goals scored in 115 matches, with an average of goals per match.
Goals scored in qualifying round counts toward the topscorer award.
RankPlayerTeamGoalsTotal1 Vivianne Miedema Arsenal—1010 Emueje Ogbiagbevha Minsk64 Berglind Björg Þorvaldsdóttir Breiðablik644 Pernille Harder VfL Wolfsburg—99 Ada Hegerberg Lyon—9 Fenna Kalma Twente547 Kayla Adamek Spartak Subotica415 Janine Beckie Manchester City—5 Tijana Filipović Spartak Subotica50 Krystyna Freda Apollon Limassol5— Gulnara Gabelia BIIK Kazygurt50 Rio Hardy Apollon Limassol5— Marie-Antoinette Katoto Paris Saint-Germain—5 Velina Koshuleva NSA Sofia5— Tereza Kožárová Slavia Praha—5 Eugénie Le Sommer Lyon—5 Tijana Matić Spartak Subotica41 Wendie Renard Lyon—5
Notes
Squad of the season The following players were named in the squad of the season by the UEFA's technical observers:
PlayerTeam(s) Sarah Bouhaddi Lyon Christiane Endler Paris Saint-Germain Sandra Paños Barcelona Lucy Bronze Lyon Paulina Dudek Paris Saint-Germain Kathrin Hendrich Bayern Munich VfL Wolfsburg Dominique Janssen VfL Wolfsburg Sakina Karchaoui Lyon Wendie Renard Lyon Ingrid Syrstad Engen VfL Wolfsburg Kheira Hamraoui Barcelona Svenja Huth VfL Wolfsburg Saki Kumagai Lyon Kim Little Arsenal Amel Majri Lyon Dzsenifer Marozsán Lyon Alexandra Popp VfL Wolfsburg Delphine Cascarino Lyon Kadidiatou Diani Paris Saint-Germain Caroline Graham Hansen Barcelona Pernille Harder VfL Wolfsburg Jennifer Hermoso Barcelona Marie-Antoinette Katoto Paris Saint-Germain
Players of the season
For the first time, positional awards were awarded in the Women's Champions League for best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward of the competition. Votes were cast for players of the season by coaches of the eight teams who participated in the final tournament in Spain, together with 20 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group who specialize in women's football. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams. Jury members selected their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. The shortlist of the top three players was announced on 17 September 2020. The award winners were announced and presented during the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Switzerland on 1 October 2020.
Goalkeeper of the season RankPlayerTeam(s)PointsShortlist of top three1 Sarah Bouhaddi Lyon1002 Christiane Endler Paris Saint-Germain603 Sandra Paños Barcelona39Players ranked 4–104 Friederike Abt VfL Wolfsburg105 Hedvig Lindahl VfL Wolfsburg Atlético Madrid96 Laura Benkarth Bayern Munich87 Manuela Zinsberger Arsenal48 Ellie Roebuck Manchester City39 Pauline Peyraud-Magnin Arsenal1 Sari van Veenendaal Atlético Madrid
Defender of the season RankPlayerTeam(s)PointsShortlist of top three1 Wendie Renard Lyon1022 Lucy Bronze Lyon853 Lena Goeßling VfL Wolfsburg9Players ranked 4–104 Sakina Karchaoui Lyon85 Dominique Janssen VfL Wolfsburg76 Irene Paredes Paris Saint-Germain67 Kathrin Hendrich Bayern Munich VfL Wolfsburg5 Mapi León Barcelona9 Paulina Dudek Paris Saint-Germain3 Carolin Simon Bayern Munich
Midfielder of the season RankPlayerTeam(s)PointsShortlist of top three1 Dzsenifer Marozsán Lyon662 Alexandra Popp VfL Wolfsburg303 Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir VfL Wolfsburg Lyon19Players ranked 4–104 Saki Kumagai Lyon17 Amel Majri Lyon6 Delphine Cascarino Lyon147 Alexia Putellas Barcelona108 Ingrid Syrstad Engen VfL Wolfsburg8 Amandine Henry Lyon10 Caroline Graham Hansen Barcelona6 Kim Little Arsenal Lina Magull Bayern Munich
Forward of the season RankPlayerTeam(s)PointsShortlist of top three1 Pernille Harder VfL Wolfsburg932 Delphine Cascarino Lyon323 Vivianne Miedema Arsenal31Players ranked 4–104 Eugénie Le Sommer Lyon235 Ada Hegerberg Lyon156 Marie-Antoinette Katoto Paris Saint-Germain107 Ewa Pajor VfL Wolfsburg78 Caroline Graham Hansen Barcelona6 Jennifer Hermoso Barcelona10 Fridolina Rolfö VfL Wolfsburg5
See also 2019 Copa Libertadores Femenina 2019 AFC Women's Club Championship 2019–20 UEFA Champions League
Notes
References
External links
UEFA Women's Champions League Matches: 2019–20, UEFA.com Women's Domestic Leagues, UEFA.com