FT: Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
Maya Le Tissier penalty gives Marc Skinner's side win on Champions League debut
FT: Twente 1-1 Chelsea - Sonia Bompastor's side held in opener
Sandy Baltimore scores penalty after Danique van Ginkel's opener for hosts
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FT: Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
That's all from us tonight as Manchester United begin their debut Champions League campaign with a victory against Valerenga and Chelsea are held to a draw by Twente.
We'll be back at the weekend for a bumper Sunday of Women's Super League action, with all six fixtures taking place on the same day.
See you around.
FT: Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
Simon Stone
BBC Sport Chief Football News Reporter at Progress with Unity Stadium
Manchester United made a winning Women's Champions League debut as Maya le Tissier's first-half penalty proved enough to see off Norwegian side Valerenga at Leigh.
Making their first appearance in Europe's most prestigious club competition, Marc Skinner's side dominated for long periods but struggled to open up a compact Valerenga side who were happy to defend their own penalty area.
With Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Wolfsburg and French heavyweights Paris St-Germain and Lyon to face in the six-match opening stage, United needed a win to give them a realistic chance of securing a top-12 berth, which would earn at least a play-off next year for a quarter-final spot.
Le Tissier delivered it, keeping her nerve to send Tove Enblom the wrong way from the spot after Arna Eiriksdottir was harshly ruled to have handled a pass from Julia Zigiotti Olme that was intended for Elisabeth Terland.
United's Melvine Malard wasted a couple of opportunities before Le Tissier struck, and Jess Park had a shot saved at the start of the second half before setting up Terland, whose effort was blocked.
Valerenga finished the game strongly and United survived a scare in the final stages when substitute Elise Thorsnes burst to the edge of the penalty area, only to drag her shot wide.
FT: Twente 1-1 Chelsea
Elizabeth Botcherby
BBC Sport
"Questions will be asked" of Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor following her side's underwhelming 1-1 draw with Twente in their Women's Champions League opener, says former England forward Lianne Sanderson.
Chelsea were favourites heading into the tie, having put nine goals past the Dutch champions across two group-stage meetings last season.
And after tournament heavyweights Barcelona, who have knocked Chelsea out in the semi-finals in each of the past three editions, thrashed Bayern Munich 7-1 on Tuesday, the Blues would have been hoping for a statement win of their own as they search for a maiden European trophy.
Instead, they were forced to settle for a point, with Sandy Baltimore's 71st-minute penalty cancelling out Danique van Ginkel's opener for the hosts.
Chelsea's "disjointed" performance was the product of the seven changes made to their starting XI, according to Sanderson, who said Bompastor "took Twente lightly" and made the "wrong team selection".
Ellie Carpenter, Millie Bright, Baltimore, and Aggie Beever-Jones were the only players retained from Friday's Women's Super League draw with Manchester United.
"Questions will be asked of Sonia because this is the competition all Chelsea fans want to win. It's only one game but you look at other teams, like Barcelona, and they got off to a flyer," Sanderson said on Disney+.
Wednesday:
Tuesday:
FT: Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
More from Manchester United captain Maya Le Tissier speaking to Disney+, on navigating the narrow score line at the end: "Staying focused. Today was about keeping the ball, which we did not do very well in the second half. It was just, stay patient, don't force balls through, and stay concentrated at the back. sometimes when you have a lot of the ball you are there thinking, 'This is sound' and all of a sudden they come out. So keep focussed, not force it and keep trying to score."
On starting the league phase right and keeping positive momentum: "I'm still trying to get my head around the concept to be honest. Think I get it now, three home, three away. Obviously the next game is Everton away [in the WSL] then Atletico Madrid away. It's just so exciting, even coming out to the music and seeing all the stuff with Champions League on it. It was a special night for all of us to play in our first proper Champions League game. A really good night."
FT: Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
Nedum Onuoha
Former Manchester City defender on Disney+
United, when you get these opportunities against sides who are playing in a low block, as [Maya] Le Tissier was saying, you need to make those opportunities matter because these don't happen very often and when they do you have to be clinical.
Otherwise, you'll be sweating throughout the rest of the game and its good to see they're creating these opportunities. If they're going to go far in this competition and make the next round that they believe they can do they need to be able to take their chances.
FT: Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
Manchester United captain Maya Le Tissier speaking to Disney+: "Incredible. This is where you want to be, playing in the Champions League. It meant the world to us. It's been a long, well my four years, for Tooney she's been here like ten years or something. We've worked hard to get here, we deserve to be here so to get the first win is something we wanted to do and so to do it tonight we're very happy.
On being frustrated by Valerenga: "Sometimes when you play against a low block it is the hardest thing to break them down. You get frustrated and try to force balls through. I thought we controlled it really well in the first half, second half it was a bit more open and we had to face a lot more transitions. That is something we definitely need to look at, that can't happen again, made it a nervy last five.
The best thing about this competition is that you face different opposition that you're not used to, they pose different threats and you get different opportunities to learn from."
On having more depth with injured players returning: "We have a fanstatic group of players but we've had a lot of injuries so it's mainly been the first 11 playing most of the games and the minutes. We've got most of the players back apart from Millie and Celine so we can get some rest for some players.
"The WSL is such a hard league, amazing players and amazing teams. It's from one to the next but that's what we want to do as players, play against the best teams and the best players."
Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say
Good win for United although they made it far too nervy for themselves. Should have been 4 or 5 instead of just 1, take your chances and kill the game and that doesn’t happen.
Freddie
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United will have to do much better than this in the rest of our matches in this league.
Sam
United have made this game much more difficult than it needed to be. It baffles me that teams are unable to work out that Plan A is not working, so they need to switch to Plan B.
Paul
FT: Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
"We've worked hard to get here and deserve to be here and get the first win," says United captain Maya Le Tissier.
Stick around for all of the reaction.
Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say
Good win for Man United. It would have been better to got a second goal, this is where squad depth is important. Barca brought on Pina in their match at scored two goals.
Steve
FT: Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
Anita Asante
Former Arsenal defender on Disney+
On Man Utd being the only English team to win in the Champions League this week
I don't think we expected that necessarily.
We thought they'd get a good result, but we definitely expected Chelsea and Arsenal to potentially come away with wins as well. They struggled in their opening matches, but this is a great start to Man Utd's campaign in the Champions League and perhaps a message they want to signal to the rest of the competition in the pack as well.
FT: Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
Anita Asante
Former Arsenal defender on Disney+
Man United with a professional performance, getting the job done at home.
Three points on the board in this league phase. Marc Skinner will be delighted with their efforts.
Image source, Getty ImagesIn case you missed it, Chelsea's trip to face Dutch champions Twente in the earlier kick off ended in a 1-1 draw. You can read that match report on the BBC Sport website.
Tonight's other games finished like this:
Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
Manchester United secure all three points on their European debut.
A dominant display at home to Valerenga, who frustrated them with a low block, and Maya Le Tissier's goal from the penalty spot proves the difference.
Image source, Getty ImagesMan Utd 1-0 Valerenga
Another late chance goes begging for Manchester United. Fridolina Rolfo sends a low cross towards the back post but Melvine Malard can't reach it.
Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
Three minutes added at the end of the second half.
Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
Anita Asante
Former Arsenal defender on Disney+
The game is getting stretched now. Valerenga are really pushing to get an equaliser.
They're actually getting four or five players against the Man Utd defence at times.
Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
Now two substitutions for Manchester United. Simi Awujo and Gabby George come on to replace Ella Toone and Anna Sandberg.
Man Utd 1-0 Valerenga
Anita Asante
Former Arsenal defender on Disney+
Really good break there from Valerenga. Forward pass into space.
But just drags her shot wide.
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Barcelona | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
|
2 Atletico Madrid | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
|
3 Real Madrid | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
|
4 Wolfsburg | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
|
5 OL Lyonnes | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
|
6 Juventus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
|
7 Manchester United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
|
8 OH Leuven | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
|
9 Paris FC | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
|
10 Chelsea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
11 Twente | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
12 SL Benfica | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
|
13 Arsenal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
|
14 Vålerenga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
|
15 Roma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 0 |
|
16 PSG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
|
17 Bayern Munich | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 0 |
|
18 St. Pölten | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | -6 | 0 |
|
Manager: Marc Skinner
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Nils Lexerød
Formation: 3 - 4 - 3
Manager: Marc Skinner
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Nils Lexerød
Formation: 3 - 4 - 3
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