Welcome back to Matildas Abroad, where I analyse the performances of all the Aussies playing overseas.
This week we had the first European continental football of 2026 with the first legs of both the knockout phase playoffs in the Champions League and the quarter-finals in the Europa Cup.
Champions League — Foord assists twice, Juventus all square
Caitlin Foord (pictured) got two assists in Arsenal's 4–0 win over OH Leuven. They will face Chelsea in the quarter-finals in a battle between two fierce rivals and giants, but also between Matildas stars. Image source: Instagram (@arsenalwfc).
Two of the four Champions League knockout phase playoffs featured Aussie players, with Arsenal facing OH Leuven and Juventus facing Wolfsburg.
Caitlin Foord played the full 90 minutes for Arsenal and bagged two assists in their 4–0 away thrashing of Belgian champions OH Leuven, with Kyra Cooney-Cross coming on as a sub and Steph Catley being rested as an unused sub. The immense performance by the Gunners has all but knocked out Leuven, who had a commendable run to even reach the playoffs ahead of teams such as PSG and Roma.
We're still yet to see Annalise Rasmussen (centre) sporting the black and white yet, but that could change this weekend as Juventus take on Lazio in the Serie A. Image source: Instagram (@beyondthepitch2024 and @spydernaz).
Meanwhile, all's to play for in the Wolfsburg vs Juventus tie, with Juve drawing 2–2 away with Die Wölfinnen. Annalise Rasmussen was unfortunately not in the squad for Le Bianconere, though could potentially debut ahead of Juventus' weekend Serie A Femminile clash against Lazio. Meanwhile, Wolfsburg's Sharn Freier is technically still on loan at Brisbane Roar, though her devastating ACL injury has cut her season short.
Arsenal being 4–0 up makes it quite difficult for Leuven to overturn the result at Emirates Stadium, so it's therefore safe to say that Arsenal will advance to face Ellie Carpenter and Sam Kerr's Chelsea in a North West London Derby quarter-final. Meanwhile, the winner of the Wolfsburg vs Juventus tie will face Teagan Micah's Lyon in the quarter-finals.
Europa Cup — Häcken win by seven, Frankfurt by four
Hayley Raso (right) did a little dance post-match to celebrate Eintracht Frankfurt's 4–0 win over Nordsjælland. Image source: Instagram (@eintrachtfrankfurtfrauen).
Both Aussies still in the Europa Cup saw their teams go off to a flying start in the quarter-finals. Hayley Raso came on as a substitute in Eintracht Frankfurt's 4–0 thrashing of Nordsjælland at home, coming on as a 73rd minute replacement for Swedish brace scorer Rebecka Blomqvist. While it's unfortunate that a player of her quality continues to be benched, hopefully in the second leg Frankfurt will give her the chance to start, even if it's only to give the other players a rest when Die Adler head to Farum in Denmark for the second leg.
Aivi Luik (pictured), aged 40, is still kicking for Häcken, who won the Damallsvenskan last year after an epic title race. Image source: Instagram (@bkhackenofcl).
Meanwhile, Aivi Luik started in Häcken's enormous 7–0 smashing of Icelandic champions Breiðablik, before later coming off as a substitute to make way for Stine Sandbech in the 60th minute. With fellow Swedish side Hammarby having a weakened squad this season after many of their star players left for opportunities in the WSL, Häcken's main competition in their fight to retain the WSL title is the even further strengthened Malmö, and their main competition in the Europa Cup appears to be Frankfurt.
With the scorelines being extremely unlikely to be overturned in the second leg, it's safe to say that Frankfurt and Häcken will face off in the semi-finals, with the winner taking on either Austria Vienna, Hammarby, Sparta Prague or Sporting Lisbon, with Hammarby being the most likely finalist of the four by far.
Player of the Week — Caitlin Foord
This week's Player of the Week is of course Caitlin Foord for her brace of assists against OH Leuven. Well done Cait!
Conclusion
That's all for today but stay tuned for Monday's weekly wrap-up! As always, feel free to jump into the comments with any questions or to discuss the matches. Thanks for reading, I hope you found this useful!
This week we had the first European continental football of 2026 with the first legs of both the knockout phase playoffs in the Champions League and the quarter-finals in the Europa Cup.
Champions League — Foord assists twice, Juventus all square
Caitlin Foord (pictured) got two assists in Arsenal's 4–0 win over OH Leuven. They will face Chelsea in the quarter-finals in a battle between two fierce rivals and giants, but also between Matildas stars. Image source: Instagram (@arsenalwfc).
Two of the four Champions League knockout phase playoffs featured Aussie players, with Arsenal facing OH Leuven and Juventus facing Wolfsburg.
Caitlin Foord played the full 90 minutes for Arsenal and bagged two assists in their 4–0 away thrashing of Belgian champions OH Leuven, with Kyra Cooney-Cross coming on as a sub and Steph Catley being rested as an unused sub. The immense performance by the Gunners has all but knocked out Leuven, who had a commendable run to even reach the playoffs ahead of teams such as PSG and Roma.
We're still yet to see Annalise Rasmussen (centre) sporting the black and white yet, but that could change this weekend as Juventus take on Lazio in the Serie A. Image source: Instagram (@beyondthepitch2024 and @spydernaz).
Meanwhile, all's to play for in the Wolfsburg vs Juventus tie, with Juve drawing 2–2 away with Die Wölfinnen. Annalise Rasmussen was unfortunately not in the squad for Le Bianconere, though could potentially debut ahead of Juventus' weekend Serie A Femminile clash against Lazio. Meanwhile, Wolfsburg's Sharn Freier is technically still on loan at Brisbane Roar, though her devastating ACL injury has cut her season short.
Arsenal being 4–0 up makes it quite difficult for Leuven to overturn the result at Emirates Stadium, so it's therefore safe to say that Arsenal will advance to face Ellie Carpenter and Sam Kerr's Chelsea in a North West London Derby quarter-final. Meanwhile, the winner of the Wolfsburg vs Juventus tie will face Teagan Micah's Lyon in the quarter-finals.
Europa Cup — Häcken win by seven, Frankfurt by four
Hayley Raso (right) did a little dance post-match to celebrate Eintracht Frankfurt's 4–0 win over Nordsjælland. Image source: Instagram (@eintrachtfrankfurtfrauen).
Both Aussies still in the Europa Cup saw their teams go off to a flying start in the quarter-finals. Hayley Raso came on as a substitute in Eintracht Frankfurt's 4–0 thrashing of Nordsjælland at home, coming on as a 73rd minute replacement for Swedish brace scorer Rebecka Blomqvist. While it's unfortunate that a player of her quality continues to be benched, hopefully in the second leg Frankfurt will give her the chance to start, even if it's only to give the other players a rest when Die Adler head to Farum in Denmark for the second leg.
Aivi Luik (pictured), aged 40, is still kicking for Häcken, who won the Damallsvenskan last year after an epic title race. Image source: Instagram (@bkhackenofcl).
Meanwhile, Aivi Luik started in Häcken's enormous 7–0 smashing of Icelandic champions Breiðablik, before later coming off as a substitute to make way for Stine Sandbech in the 60th minute. With fellow Swedish side Hammarby having a weakened squad this season after many of their star players left for opportunities in the WSL, Häcken's main competition in their fight to retain the WSL title is the even further strengthened Malmö, and their main competition in the Europa Cup appears to be Frankfurt.
With the scorelines being extremely unlikely to be overturned in the second leg, it's safe to say that Frankfurt and Häcken will face off in the semi-finals, with the winner taking on either Austria Vienna, Hammarby, Sparta Prague or Sporting Lisbon, with Hammarby being the most likely finalist of the four by far.
Player of the Week — Caitlin Foord
This week's Player of the Week is of course Caitlin Foord for her brace of assists against OH Leuven. Well done Cait!
Conclusion
That's all for today but stay tuned for Monday's weekly wrap-up! As always, feel free to jump into the comments with any questions or to discuss the matches. Thanks for reading, I hope you found this useful!
