Arsenal have this evening confirmed that their Round 1 ties in this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League will be played out at the Sapsan Arena in Moscow.
The draw for Round 1 was conducted by UEFA on Friday with Arsenal being placed in a group with Kazakhstani side FC Okhetpes, Dutch club PSV Eindhoven and Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow.
The group will be played out in a mini-tournament format. Arsenal will face FC Okhetpes in a one-off semi-final tie while the winners of the PSV Eindhoven and Lokomotiv Moscow tie will await in the final. The winning finalist will secure a place in the Round 2 draw and will be joined by 2020/2021 Barclays FA Women’s Super League runners-up Manchester City.
Following the draw on Friday, clubs were locked in discussions over where the Round 1 ties would be staged and it has today been agreed that Lokomotiv Moscow’s Sapsan Arena home will host all matches.
Both semi-final ties will take place on 18 July with Arsenal’s game against FC Okhetpes set to be the first game of the day. The final will be staged on 21 July. Full details regarding kick-off times will be announced in due course.
Arsenal are bidding to win their first European trophy since 2007, the last time that any English club lifted European football’s greatest prize.