A season full of firsts begins in the UEFA Women's Champions League this week as a new format, a first-time defending champion and a batch of notable fresh faces lay the foundation for an exciting campaign ahead.

Like the men's competition did a year ago, the UWCL will adopt the Swiss system starting this season, the field expanding from 16 teams to 18 for the first edition of the league phase. Six league phase games are on the schedule for each team from now until mid-December, several high-profile matches in store as Europe's best teams compete for the top four spots that will automatically send them through to the quarterfinals and take them one sizable leap closer to the May 24 final at Oslo's Ullevaal Stadion.

Matchday 1 will be headlined by Arsenal's match against OL Lyonnes, a mat

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