Austria meet Chelsea As Women’s Super League Champions in Champions

At Stamford Bridge, superstar Lauren James leads Chelsea as they welcome Austria for the opening night of the Women’s Champions League group stage, a debut for the Viennese side in the elite 18‑team competition. The match, broadcast at 21:00 on ORF Sport+, marks a historic step for the double‑champions.

Former Austria captain Viktoria Schnaderbeck describes the Women’s Super League as the ‘Nonplusultra’ of women’s football. She argues that the league’s standards set the benchmark as the best league in Europe.

Superstar Lauren James and the FC Chelsea women welcome the Wiener Austria in what the press calls a mammoth task for the Veilchen. Action Images via Reuters/Peter capture the electric atmosphere on the stage of Europe’s premier competition.

Why the Women’s Super League leads Europe

On Wednesday at 21:00, Austria’s double‑champions begin the Champions League group phase, joining an elite circle of eighteen teams for the first time. ‘It is a huge achievement,’ Schnaderbeck told STANDARD. She added that the feat is even more impressive when one considers clubs such as VfL Wolfsburg that have not qualified.

Schnaderbeck sees Austria’s progress as proof that relatively modest investment can yield rapid results in women’s football. ‘The beautiful thing about the women’s game is that you can achieve good outcomes with limited resources and still create visible change,’ she said.

Schnaderbeck’s insight stems from her own career: she left Bayern Munich for Arsenal in 2018, stayed until 2022 and then spent half a season at Tottenham. ‘When I arrived in England the commitment to invest in the women’s game was already clear,’ she recalled. ‘We had our own training facilities and I earned double what I did in Munich.’

Financial muscle behind English clubs

She notes that English clubs began staging matches in the Emirates Stadium, drawing crowds of 20,000 to 30,000. After England’s Euro 2022 triumph, Arsenal set a league record of 47,367 spectators against Tottenham in September 2022. Schnaderbeck estimates player salaries have since tripled, with top talent earning even more.

Arsenal’s 2025 Champions League victory featured Austrian goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger, underscoring the link between Austria and the league’s elite. Most of the twelve clubs are attached to major men’s organisations, with only the London City Lionesses remaining independent. ‘English clubs have greater financial muscle, yet they still need to spend a few million to build a dedicated women’s training centre,’ Schnaderbeck explained.

Chelsea’s women have moved from a 4,850‑seat arena to the 41,000‑capacity Stamford Bridge this season, reflecting growing demand. The Women’s Super League now generates €157 million, a 35 percent rise and 2.5 times the revenue of the German women’s Bundesliga, according to economist Christoph Breuer. Deloitte reports an average turnover of €10 million for English clubs, with Arsenal at €25 million and Bayern’s women at €7.2 million.