Can Manchester City balance WSL title defence with Champions League commitments?
Manchester City have won every match in the Women's Super League this season as they begin the defence of their WSL title and have remained unbeaten in the Women's Champions League so far.
When City started their title defence there was a clear question over whether they could compete on multiple fronts after previous seasons in which deep runs in Europe proved difficult alongside domestic challenges. The club made just three signings in the summer and retained most of the squad from the season when they won a first WSL title in a decade, leaving manager Andree Jeglertz to manage rotation and expectations.
Jeglertz has not named the same starting XI in successive games, with squad depth proving important to maintaining rhythm across competitions. His substitutions have had direct impact: Beth Mead assisted after coming on against Birmingham City and Kerstin Casparij scored with her first touch after replacing a teammate against Arsenal.
City rescued a draw after falling 2-0 down at Bayern Munich in their opening Champions League fixture and also recovered from behind to earn a 1-1 result with Real Madrid. After the 4-2 win over Arsenal, Jeglertz said: "If you look at all the games we have played this season so far, I think the substitutions and changes we have made in the last half an hour has quite often turned the game around," said Jeglertz following their 4-2 win over Arsenal. "We really have finished off on a high. We have never dropped that. I think that is something for us to [take forward]. "You can only start with 11 players but you can make five substitutions. The ones that have come in, no matter who it is, have always affected it in a good way."
City's recent history underscores the challenge of balancing competitions: despite finishing runners-up to Chelsea in the WSL in both 2019 and 2020, they did not progress beyond the last-16 stage in Europe in those seasons. They finished second in the WSL again in 2021 and reached at least the quarter-finals in both domestic cup competitions and the Champions League, but the next two years saw them fall in Champions League qualifying and drop to third then fourth in the WSL.
England international Lauren Hemp, who has been in electric form, said the draws in Europe were "not our standard" despite facing tough opposition. Jeglertz acknowledged the level of their opponents and the need for wins, saying: "We have played two teams that are definitely at a very high level. If you want to go far in the tournament, you also need to win these games." He added: "We have two points and haven't lost and we had two good halves. But we're still looking for a 90 minutes where we feel we can do a great game. "It's an OK start. It's not ideal but it's a good start. We know what is needed from us for the rest of the tournament."
It is only five games into the WSL season and City have another four matches to play in the league phase in Europe, while several players are recovering from injury, including Vivianne Miedema, Sydney Lohmann, Rebecca Knaak and Risa Shimizu, and Sam Coffey picked up a knock in their victory over Arsenal. Of City's 16 WSL goals this season, 10 have been scored in the second half, including three in stoppage time, and key players Kerstin Casparij, Khadija Shaw and Yui Hasegawa have all played fewer minutes at this stage than they did last season. USA international Coffey has featured in every game but has played 90 minutes just once; vice-captain Casparij came on against Arsenal to give her side the lead in the 63rd minute. "At half-time I knew I was going to come on so I had a good chunk of time to prepare and get ready to play my game," said Casparij. "That's what Andree does. He's really clear with us and it allows me to play my game, trust my instinct, trust my gut and play with a lot of freedom. "We've got incredible resilience and mentality within this team. We've got incredible players coming off the bench, changing the game. "That is so important because it's the whole team that you need, especially in a long season like this. Nothing is won yet but we have to keep up this mentality."
With five WSL matches played and four league-phase fixtures remaining in Europe, City will depend on the squad depth and resilience they have already shown while several players continue to recover from injury.
