Preview: BK Hacken Women vs. Paris Saint-Germain Women

Sports Mole previews Wednesday’s Women’s Champions League clash between BK Hacken Women and Paris Saint-Germain Women, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

On Wednesday, BK Hacken Women will welcome Paris Saint-Germain Women to the Bravida Arena for the first leg of their Women’s Champions League quarter-final tie.

Hacken are appearing at the last eight stage for the first time in 11 years, while PSG are competing in the quarter-finals for the ninth time in 10 seasons.

Match preview
© Reuters

Hacken negotiated a tricky group to become the first Swedish team to progress past the group stage since the current format was introduced in 2021-22.

Mak Lind’s side won three and drew two of their six matches to finish ahead of Paris FC and Real Madrid and just three points adrift of Chelsea.

As a result of their second-place finish in Group D, Hacken are now set to make their first quarter-final appearance since they previously appeared in the last eight in back-to-back seasons in 2011-12 and 2012-13 when they were known at Goteborg.

Hacken had plenty of time to reflect upon their group stage success, before they got their new domestic season underway with a 3-0 win over Vaxjo in the Swedish Cup earlier this month.

They went on to follow that result with a dominant 7-1 win in Saturday’s cup clash with Lidkoping, ensuring they have lost just one of their previous 10 competitive outings.

Meanwhile, PSG showed great character and determination to navigate the group phase after they recovered from consecutive defeats to take 10 points from their remaining four group games.

Jocelyn Precheur’s charges appeared to be heading out when Bayern Munich took a 2-1 lead in their final group match, before an 88th-minute own goal levelled the scoreline and sent the Parisians through to the knockout rounds as the group winners.

Although they were eliminated in last season’s quarter-final clash with Wolfsburg, PSG’s overall record in the last eight offers cause for optimism, with the French side prevailing in six of their eight ties at this stage of the competition.

They will certainly travel to Sweden in a confident mood after thrashing Saint-Etienne on Friday to extend their unbeaten run to 19 matches in all competitions.

After racking up 21 goals in their last five matches, PSG will be hoping they can use their firepower to gain an upper hand in the first leg.

BK Hacken Women Women’s Champions League form:

BK Hacken Women form (all competitions):

Paris Saint-Germain Women Women’s Champions League form:

Paris Saint-Germain Women form (all competitions):

Hacken forward Stine Larsen remains sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, while Aisha Masaka and Alexandra Larsson are also set to miss out.

Elma Junttila Nelhage has recently returned to training, but the defender will not be ready for Wednesday’s first leg.

Matilda Nilden and Alice Bergstrom are in contention to start after being included in Hacken’s Champions League squad following their arrivals earlier this year.

As for the visitors, Precheur is still unable to call upon the services of defender Paulina Dudek and midfielder Oriane Jean-Francois.

After seeing his side breeze past Saint-Etienne, the PSG boss could be tempted to stick with an unchanged lineup for the trip to Sweden.

Having scored six goals in the last four matches, Tabitha Chawinga will be looking to continue her fine run of form when she leads the line alongside Marie-Antoinette Katoto.

BK Hacken Women possible starting lineup:
Falk; Kosola, Rybrink, Luik, Wijk; Bergstrom, Sorensen; Anvegard, Nilden, Kafaji; Larisey

Paris Saint-Germain Women possible starting lineup:
Picaud; Gaetino, De Almeida, Samoura; Vangsgaard, Geyoro, Baltimore, Groenen, Karchaoui; Chawinga, Katoto

We say: BK Hacken Women 2-2 Paris Saint-Germain Women
While Hacken will be keen to make full use of home advantage, we think they may have to settle for a draw against a PSG side that has lost just one of their 15 competitive away games this season.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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