Swedish BK Häcken couldn’t keep their lead in the opening part, but Arsenal advanced to the group stage of the Champions League.
BK Häcken’s road rose in the women’s Champions League. Last year, the Swedish club progressed through the group stage all the way to the quarterfinals.
This time, the journey was already in the qualifiers, when Arsenal beat Häcken 4–0 in the second part of the match and made it to the next round with 4–1 on aggregate.
Häcken won the opening part 1–0. However, Arsenal started their home game strongly when Lia Wälti and Marion Caldentey hit already in the opening period.
Häcken’s hopes were dashed right after the break, when England’s national team star Beth Mead sank the ball into the visitors’ goal with a spectacular volley. Frida Maanum finished the final readings a good ten minutes before the end.
National team winger Katarina Kosola representing Häcken was not in the lineup. Kosola has been out of action for months due to a mysterious ankle injury.
Among the Swedish clubs, Hammarby, who beat Benfica on Wednesday, made it to the group stage of the Champions League. In the club, they play from Helmareis Anna Tamminen and Eva Nyström.
Helmareit’s long-time number one goalkeeper Tinja-Riikka Korpela sat on the bench when his club Servette suffered a crushing defeat to AS Roma. The Finn’s former club defeated the current one 7–2 and advanced to the group stage with a combined score of 10–3.