LONDON (AP) — Arsenal underlined its credentials for back-to-back Women’s Champions League titles by beating English rival Chelsea 3-1 in the first leg of the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Also, Wolfsburg took a 1-0 lead over record eight-time champion Lyonnes in a meeting of two of the competition’s most storied names.
Stina Blackstenius — with her first Champions League goal since the winner in the final against Barcelona last season — and Chloe Kelly gave Arsenal a 2-0 halftime lead at Emirates Stadium.
Lauren James curled a brilliant long-range shot into the top corner to reduce the deficit for Chelsea but Arsenal regained its two-goal cushion when Alessia Russo drove home from the edge of the area.
Chelsea finished higher in the league stage — third place, compared to Arsenal in fifth — but has work to do in next week’s return leg across London to reach the semifinals for the fourth straight season.
Lineth Beerensteyn scored the only goal for Wolfsburg with a deflected 14th-minute shot against Lyon in the 12th Champions League meeting between the teams, which makes it tied for the most-played fixture in the competition’s history.
Four of those matches have been in finals, highlighting their status.
Kadidiatou Diani hit the post late in the game for Lyon, whose most recent of its eight titles came in 2022.
Remaining quarterfinals
The other two first-leg matches in the quarterfinals are on Wednesday, when Real Madrid hosts Barcelona in a big Spanish rivalry and Manchester United makes its debut at this stage against Bayern Munich.
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