Vilde Bøe Risa is looking ahead to meeting with her former club Manchester United in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. The Norwegian and Atlético Madrid suffered a hefty 6-0 defeat to Barcelona

Lily Yohannes, 18, scored a long-range stunner in OL Lyonnes’ 3-0 win over St. Pölten, proving to be one of the highlights of a jam-packed league phase. Meanwhile, 20-year-old Alyssa Thompson put on a clinic for Chelsea in her side’s 4-0 win over Paris FC, scoring her first Champions League goal in the second half.

Here is everything you need to know ahead Thursday's Women's Champions League clash between Manchester United and Atlético Madrid.

The promise of the new UEFA Champions League format, now in its second season, was that high-caliber matches would be scattered around the schedule from the get-go. Wednesday's clash between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain,

The Champions League titleholder will play a showcase opening home game as part of new commercial deals for UEFA club competitions from the 2027-28 season.

The change comes as part of the new media rights deal for UC3, the joint venture between UEFA and European Football Clubs, set to start in 2027 and go through 2033. Relevent will run the rights cycle after the American agency replaced UEFA’s long-term partner TEAM Marketing last year.

​​The NFL in the U.S. always kicks off a new season with the defending Super Bowl champion hosting a game on a Thursday night, while Stanley Cup holders the Florida Panthers opened the new NHL season last week. The upcoming NBA season will begin with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder hosting the Houston Rockets later this month.

The Champions League has only just undergone a major shakeup with the introduction of the 'league phase' in 2024, but UEFA wants to keep evolving the competition and the next set of format changes coming into force the season after next are expected to make even more of the action accessible to fans.