Inside Man City’s first WSL triumph since 2016: How Andree Jeglertz’s side overcame 10 years of disappointment to dethrone Chelsea
Let’s first address the elephant in the room. It’s widely recognised that there is a ‘Big Four’ in the WSL, made up of City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal – but there are just three Champions League places. As such, one of the big guns misses out on European football every season and, last term, it was City.
Not having to juggle that very demanding competition on this year’s schedule gave Jeglertz’s side an advantage in the WSL title race that is impossible to ignore, especially given United, Chelsea and Arsenal all made it through to the European quarter-finals.
“That extra space keeping everybody fit just gives you options,” Marc Skinner, the United boss who watched his squad struggle to deal with the demands of competing on four fronts, said. Chelsea, too, have had a lot of injuries to deal with in recent months.
On the flip side, it must be said that there is also added pressure and expectation to do well in the WSL when there is no European football as a distraction. Excuses go out the window.
“We really must aim for first place,” City midfielder Yui Hasegawa said before the season, speaking to GOAL. “We can focus on the domestic league.”
It’s a factor in City’s title triumph, but it’s not the main one, nor is it even one of the biggest. If it was that significant, the team that missed out on Champions League football would always win the title. In reality, it’s not happened since Chelsea’s victory in 2020.
