UWCL: Man City ‘confident’ as they await Real Madrid, says Kerstin Casparij

UWCL: Man City ‘confident’ as they await Real Madrid, says Kerstin Casparij Manchester City are one of the favourites in the 2025/26 UEFA Women’s Champions League after winning the Women’s Super League back in May. Netherlands and Man City star Kerstin Casparij spoke about the club’s upcoming UWCL opposition, their form and their chances in the competition. Casparij has been at City since joining from FC Twente in July 2022 as a replacement for iconic English defender Lucy Bronze. The Dutch international has since gone on to win the Women’s Super League and the FA Cup with City, with the UWCL remaining elusive. Tough opponents for Man City in the UWCL Despite being labelled as one of the favourites in the UWCL, City haven’t been given any ‘easy’ fixtures in the league phase. The WSL champions drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich in their opening fixture and have Real Madrid, PSG, Austria Wien, Inter Milan and BK Häcken to come. “Real Madrid are an incredible team. They’re a team that we’ve watched, we’ve studied their clips.” Casparij said ahead of their clash with the Liga F side. “To play against Linda Caicedo… she’s an incredible player. I’ve been watching her closely, but across their front line they’re all incredible. I’m excited to play against them, it’ll be a good match.” Playing at the highest possible level is no new challenge for a player like Casparij. The defender has amassed more than 50 appearances for the Netherlands and has won both senior leagues she has played in — the WSL and the Eredivisie. “I love playing as many games as possible in a season,” Casparij said. “I think having European nights ‘under the lights’, as they say, with the fans in Manchester is so special. It’s such a unique atmosphere when it’s European football and something that I love and I draw a lot of energy from.” LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 31: Kerstin Casparij and Alex Greenwood of Manchester City celebrate with the Women’s FA Cup Trophy as the team poses for a photo following victory in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup Final match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on May 31, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images) Manchester City feel confident “It doesn’t matter if we play Real Madrid at home or Charlton away,” Casparij continued as she spoke about her team’s resolve. “We feel confident. We’ve been getting results recently, which is important, we approach every game the same way. We try to come up to and play our game plan as best we can. We’re really looking forward to the games.” Real Madrid face Manchester City on Thursday, 1st October and the Spanish outfit are currently unbeaten this season in Liga F. “Real are a really fast paced team,” Casparij added. “I think that’s something that definitely for us is really important to focus on in the game. They’re quick on the ball with impressive full-backs who join in attacking play. If we win those physical battles, first and foremost is important. If we can manage that, we tend to do really well.” Manchester City, despite off-field stresses, have been in fine form this season to date. Andrée Jeglertz’s side have won four out of four in the WSL and Casparij feels the victories can keep coming. “We want to compete in every single competition we are in for as long as we can. The league phase of the UWCL is not easy, we have a lot of incredible teams to play. Our first objective is to go through to the knock-out rounds and then we will see where we can go from there.” Embed from Getty Images Where can I watch the UEFA Women’s Champions League? The UEFA Women’s Champions League will be broadcast in full on Disney+ with the second round of fixtures starting on Thursday, 1st October. Manchester City will next face Real Madrid at the Joie Stadium in Manchester. Tickets for their home fixtures can be applied for here .  You can watch every UWCL match live on  Disney+  as part of existing customer subscriptions. Related articles from Her Football Hub: From Alex Morgan to Naomi Girma: When women’s transfer hypes failed to become reality From Cumbernauld to the SWPL: Lucy Barclay returns to where it began ÖFB-Frauen Bundesliga results: SKN St. Pölten go top as Sturm Graz falter, LASK grab deserved win