Champions League

St. Pölten ladies and Hillebrand know their opponents

Sophie Hillebrand (right) made it through to the group stage with St. Pölten.

(Bild: Gepa pictures/Walter Luger)

Now it's official: After a confident qualification, the SKN St. Pölten players were given their opponents for the group stage of the Women's Champions League on Friday in the form of Salzburg's Sophie Hillebrand.

Things continue to go uphill for Hillebrand, who once started playing in Strobl and Bergheim, and subscription champions St. Pölten. The 22-year-old has known since Friday afternoon that the Lower Austrians, who have qualified for the third time in a row, will face FC Barcelona, Manchester City and Hammarby IF in the premier class - a fantastic draw.

Repeat finalists top the group
The Spaniards have reached the final four times in a row, winning both in 2023 and this year. In addition to the reigning Swedish champions, they will also face the English runners-up. In their last meeting in 2017, when they were still in the first round of the knockout competition, they lost 6-0 to the eventual semi-finalists.

The Wolves were drawn from pot three along with Juventus Turin, AS Roma (Italy) and Twente Enschede (Netherlands). The first matchday will take place on October 8/9. The exact match schedule is yet to be announced.

This year will be the last group stage with four teams in four pools competing for eight places in the quarter-finals. From the 2025/26 season, there will then be a major league phase, as has been the case for the men (since this year).

From the bench to the starting eleven after a period of suffering
Hillebrand was out of action shortly after her transfer two years ago with cruciate ligament and cartilage problems and even had to undergo an operation the following winter. In the end, she was forced to take a break from September 2022 to November 2023. Last year, the ex-Sturm Graz player was always in the squad for the Champions League, coming off the bench in all group matches.

This year, the Salzburg player is a permanent fixture and was also in the starting eleven against the last qualifying hurdle ZNK Mura Nona (Slo; aggregate score: 8:0). She had previously scored a brace against Neftschi Baku (Ase).