Canada Soccer’s 2020 Canadian Player of Year Kadeisha Buchanan and Olympique Lyonnais will start their defence of their UEFA Champions League title on Wednesday 9 December. Buchanan, already a four-time winner from four seasons in professional soccer, will open the Round of 32 with her French side against Juventus of Italy.
In all, there are seven Canadians participating in the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League Round of 32 with six different European teams: Buchanan with Olympique Lyonnais; Jordyn Huitema and Ashley Lawrence with Paris Saint-Germain FC; Janine Beckie with Manchester City FC; Jessie Fleming with Chelsea FC; Alyssa Lagonia with Servette FCCF; and Cloé Lacasse with Benfica.
2020-21 #UWCL Round of 32
Olympique Lyonnais of France (Buchanan)
\u200bRof32, 1st leg 2020-12-09 Juventus v Lyon
\u200bRof32, 2nd leg 2020-12-15 Lyon v Juventus
Paris Saint-Germain FC of France (Huitema, Lawrence)
\u200bRof32, 1st leg 2020-12-10 Górnik \u0141\u0119czna v PSG
\u200bRof32, 2nd leg 2020-12-16 PSG v Górnik \u0141\u0119czna
Manchester City FC of England (Beckie)
\u200bRof32, 1st leg 2020-12-09 Göteborg v Manchester City
\u200bRof32, 2nd leg 2020-12-16 Manchester City v Göteborg
Chelsea FC of England (Fleming) v Benfica of Portugal (Lacasse)
\u200bRof32, 1st leg 2020-12-09 Benfica v Chelsea
\u200bRof32, 2nd leg 2020-12-16 Chelsea v Benfica
Since 2009, there have been 22 Canadians in UEFA Women’s
\u200bChampions League and Qualifying, not counting Fleming who hopes to make her debut
\u200bin 2020-21. Diana Matheson and Rhian Wilkinson were the first two Canadians to
\u200bfeature in the competition back in 2009-10 with Team Strømmen. Lacasse was the
\u200bmost recent when she debuted with Benfica in the 2020-21 Qualifying Round.
While Buchanan has won four titles with Olympique Lyonnais, Lawrence
\u200bis the one other Canadian to reach the Final back in 2016-17 (against Lyon).
\u200bLawrence also reached the Semifinals in 2019-20 while Sophie Schmidt and FFC
\u200bFrankfurt reached the Semifinals in 2015-16.
As for the defending champions Olympique Lyonnais, they are
\u200bat the start of a new undefeated streak after they lost their first match in more
\u200bthan two years in November. From 26 August 2018 through 13 November 2020 across
\u200ball competitions (Championnat de France, Coupe de France, UEFA Women’s
\u200bChampions League), Olympique Lyonnais went undefeated in 73 consecutive games.
\u200bSince Buchanan made her debut on 14 January 2017, her side has lost only four
\u200bgames.
Canadians in UEFA Women’s Champions League & Qualifying
Most matches, combined UWCL & UWCLQ
\u200b16 Buchanan, Kadeisha
\u200b14 Lawrence, Ashley
\u200b9 Sjoman, Kylla
\u200b5 Lagonia, Alyssa
\u200b5 Schmidt, Sophie
Most goals, combined UWCL & UWCLQ
\u200b5 Janine Beckie
\u200b4 Huitema, Jordyn
\u200b4 Bélanger, Josée
\u200b3 Leon, Adriana