Champions League permutations – what do Chelsea, Arsenal & Man Utd need?

The Women’s Champions League’s inaugural league phase is set for a thrilling finale as teams battle to qualify for the knockout stage.

Last year’s beaten finalists Barcelona and eight-time winners Lyon are the frontrunners, occupying the top two places on 13 points.

Women’s Super League sides Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United have all secured at least a play-off place for the knockout stages, but a top-four finish for each of them is still up for grabs.

Teams finishing first to fourth will automatically qualify for the quarter-finals, with the next eight teams – from fifth to 12th – facing off in two-legged play-offs to determine who will join them.

The sides from 13th to 18th will be eliminated from the competition.

Barcelona, Lyon, Wolfsburg, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Juventus have also secured at least a place in the play-offs.

There’s no hope left for St. Polten, FC Twente, Benfica, Roma, Paris Saint-Germain, who are all already out.

BBC Sport takes a look at how the three English clubs have fared so far on the continental stage – and what is still to come.

Chelsea’s latest quest to secure a maiden Champions League crown has been a mixed bag of results so far.

They made a stuttering start with a drab draw against Dutch champions Twente, but followed up by swatting Paris FC aside and hitting St Polten for six, before claiming an impressive 1-1 draw against old foes Barcelona.

A 6-0 victory over Roma moved Chelsea up to third ahead of their final league-phase match against two-time winners Wolfsburg.

A win against the German side will see Sonia Bompastor’s Blues seal a quarter-final spot, but a draw could mean Juventus, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich push them out of the top four.

Holders Arsenal have found it tough going in the Champions League this season, with results and performances failing to match the increased expectations set by that glorious triumph over Barcelona in the final last May.

An opening night defeat by Lyon and a total collapse against Bayern Munich bookended an unconvincing away win over Benfica, before Alessia Russo inspired a vital fightback to secure three points against Real Madrid.

A 1-0 win over FC Twente secured safe passage to the knockouts, though Arsenal’s failure to take more of their chances and boost their goal difference could end up costing them a place in the top four.

With Chelsea, Juventus, Real Madrid, Bayern and Wolfsburg above them, sixth-placed Arsenal need to win against Belgian outfit Leuven and hope other results go their way if they are to progress directly to the quarter-finals.

Manchester United enjoyed a flying start to their debut campaign in Europe, winning their first three games against Valerenga, Atletico Madrid and Paris St-Germain while conceding just one goal. But their progress came to a shuddering halt on matchday four with a 5-2 hammering by Wolfsburg.

Marc Skinner’s side then did “a lot of learning” in a 3-0 defeat by eight-time champions Lyon, a result which left United ninth in the table.

A tough final fixture awaits at Juventus, who are fourth – above Real Madrid and Bayern Munich on goal difference only.

United need to win and have a handful of other results go their way, so a top-four finish looks unlikely but victory could move them into the top-tier of the play-off draw.

For an added bit of excitement, all nine games on matchday six (Wednesday 17 December) will be played at exactly the same time (20:00 GMT) so the standings could change right up until the very last whistle of the league phase.

Ben Haines, Ellen White and Jen Beattie are back for another season of the Women’s Football Weekly podcast. New episodes drop every Tuesday on BBC Sounds, plus find interviews and extra content from the Women’s Super League and beyond on the Women’s Football Weekly feed