SWPL: Scottish women's football reclaims second Champions League spot
- Published
Hibernian and Glasgow City will both qualify for next season's Women's Champions League
The top two in the Scottish Women's Premier League will both qualify for next season's Champions League.
It means Glasgow City and Hibernian, who are both neck and neck in the title race with two games to go, are guaranteed qualifying spots.
City, who lost heavily to Barcelona on Wednesday in the first leg of their last 16 clash, were Scotland's only representatives this year.
A second spot has been earned with Scotland up to 11th in the rankings.
Hibs qualified for the Champions League last season, but went out in the qualifying group stage.
This year, champions City beat Cypriots Somatio Barcelona to reach the last 16 for the first time since 2014-15.
Only two goals separate City and Hibs in the championship, with the sides meeting on Sunday at Petershill Park.
How the Women's Champions League works
For the first time in three years, Scotland lost one of its spots after falling to 13th in the Uefa coefficients. Only those in the top 12 have two teams qualifying.
While Glasgow City and Hibernian are both guaranteed spots in next season's competition, where they enter depends on who wins the league. The champions will get a bye into the last 32 alongside 19 of Europe's top clubs. The runners-up will have to go through the qualifying group stage.
Being a qualifying group, it works differently from the group stage in the men's Champions League. One of the four teams hosts all the games, with everyone playing each other once, usually within an eight-day period. The 10 group winners and two best runners-up reach the last 32 knockout stage.
Short-lived?
Scotland may be gaining an extra Champions League spot next season, but it could be short-lived.
This season's results in Europe do not take effect until season 2020-21. Currently Scotland lie in 14th place in that table, meaning they will be back to having just one Champions League spot with the champions having to go through the group stage, similar to this season.
However, with City still in this year's competition, there is time to move Scotland up the table.
Any kind of win in the return leg against Barcelona on 1 November would see Scotland leapfrog Kazakhstan and Russia in the standings.
Glasgow City have reached the last 16 of this season's Champions League
European riches
While those dining at the top table in the men's Champions League bring in vast sums of money, the cheques are not quite as fat in the women's game. But for Scottish clubs they do provide finance they could not earn domestically.
The winners of the Champions League receive a more modest sum of 250,000 euros.
Glasgow City received 120,000 euros for being one of the group stage hosts this season, although that money is earmarked to cover the costs incurred. An additional payment was made based on their country categorisation.
On-field success has earned them an extra 60,000 euros for reaching the last 16 of the competition, plus travel expenses from Uefa. Should they lose to Barcelona they can expect a payment of 20,000 euros, while progression will be worth a minimum of 60,000 euros plus expenses.
On top of that, they can add TV revenue and ticket sales. However, while a Champions League night in Glasgow might see over 50,000 head to Celtic Park or Ibrox, City's home clash with Somatio Barcelona brought in a crowd of just 511.