20 October 2023 , 08:45
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Man City boss Gareth Taylor believes the current Women's Champions League format needs a revamp.
The debate surrounding the competition's current structure has intensified after some big clubs crashed out at the qualifying stage this year - Wolfsburg and City's local rivals Man Utd went out on Wednesday, with Arsenal and Juventus having left at the previous round. City have also suffered in qualifying, knocked out by Spanish giants Real Madrid in both 2021 and 2022.
This meant their European campaign was over before truly beginning, something United now have to deal with after finishing second in the WSL last season. Their manager Marc Skinner questioned the format following his side's 4-2 loss to PSG.
And Taylor is sympathetic to the situation. The City boss stated it was a shame to see some big names not reach the tournament proper, which kicks off with a group stage drawn on Friday.
"I don't think it's just us in the WSL, other teams have fallen foul," said Taylor. "It's a shame because you lose teams of a good standard who should probably be in the group stage
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"It's obviously an inclusion thing, where everybody has an opportunity. But I think what it does is, we tend to lose probably the better teams at an earlier stage than needs be."
Arsenal and United's exit at the qualification stage means only Chelsea will represent the WSL in Friday's group stage. As league champions the Blues were guaranteed a spot in the group stage as top seeds.
And Taylor wants his side to be in a similar situation in 12 months' time - not having to deal with the complicated maze of qualifying. He added: "You've heard it from me before - probably people weren't listening then - and now it repeats itself this season.
"We don't want to go through that. If we have to, we have to. But we want to win the league, not mess about with qualifiers. We drew Real Madrid and then again the following season, it's incredible. Our objective is to win the WSL and take away that uncertainty."
Real Madrid knocked out Man City at the qualifying stage last seasonTheir title challenge next sends City to face an unbeaten Leicester this weekend. And Taylor confirmed he will be able to call upon England forward Lauren Hemp.
Hemp missed the 5-0 win over Bristol City last weekend but was subsequently called up by Sarina Wiegman to the Lionesses squad on Tuesday. "Outside of Demi (Stokes) everyone is fit and available," said Taylor. "Lauren's fine. She has trained this week so she is available for the weekend."