Arsenal will face BK Häcken and Manchester City will take on Paris FC in the second round of qualifying for the UEFA Women's Champions League. Both English sides will play away from home first, with the ties taking place on 18-19 September and 25-26 September. Celtic will compete against Ukrainian champions FC Vorskla Poltava in their qualifying match. The winners will join pre-qualified teams such as Chelsea, Barcelona, Lyon, and Bayern Munich in the group stage. This will be the final season with a 16-team group stage, as the format changes to an 18-team single-league phase next year. Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall criticized the current qualification format, calling it a 'relic from the past' that increases injury risk.