By Alyce Collett (29/08/2025)
Above: AS Roma celebrate their win. Photo: ASRomaFemminile on X.
In our final roundup of the second round UWCL qualifiers, Alyce Collett documents Roma’s triumph over Aktobe and Athlone Town’s defeat to Iceland’s Breidablik.
AS Roma 2 – 0 FK Aktobe
Winonah Heatley and AS Roma’s Champions League campaign is off to the perfect start after downing Kazakh side Aktobe 2-0 in the semi final of their Round 2 League Path group. The Aussie played the full match at the heart of defence as Roma dominated Aktobe, despite what the scoreline might suggest.
It was clear from the onset that it was going to be a hard afternoon for Aktobe, with AS Roma on the attacking front foot from almost the first whistle. The Kazakh side did have their chances with the ball in their attacking half, but did spend the majority of the match crowding their defensive box, trying to keep the ball out of their net and staving off Roma attack after Roma attack. Roma were so dominant in the possession game that the Italians finished with 31 total shots on goal and 13 corners for the match.
Eventually Roma was able to break down the defence and score. Firstly in the 40th minute it was Marta Pandini who guided a well placed Rinsola Babajide cross into the back of the net, before Pandini turned assister for Giulia Galli a mere minute later.
Roma now moves on to face Czech side Sparta Praha, who defeated Danish side Nordsjælland 4-3 on penalties after it finished four goals all at full time.
Not all hope of continental football is lost for Aktobe though. Despite losing their semi final, if they win their third placed match this weekend against Nordsjælland, they will qualify for the first round of the brand new Europa Cup.
Breidablik 3 – 1 Athlone Town
Athlone Town’s historic first foray into the Women’s Champions League is over, after an at times frustrating 3-1 loss to Iceland’s Breidablik.
The first half of the match was a pretty even affair, with plenty of free flowing, end to end action. Despite this, Athlone did look the more dangerous of the two sides initially, not only racking up more shots than their Icelandic opponents but also Athlone’s shots were closer to scoring than Briedablik’s.
The sides went into half time without any goals to show for their efforts, but there was a feeling that it was a matter of when, not if Athlone would score, which just was not there for Breidablik.
However, the Icelanders had other ideas, and took not even three minutes of the second half to score, when Sammy Smith pounced on Athlone keeper Megan Plaschko losing possession to score the first goal of the match against the run of play.
However, not all was said and done as Athlone equalised just over 10 minutes later. Although it was officially credited to captain Izzy Groves, it could be argued that it was in fact a third Olympico of the qualifying campaign Maddie Gibson.
The equalisation efforts were ultimately in vain though, as Smith popped up again to score her second and restore the lead for Breidablik before Berglind Björg Þorvaldsdóttir put a full stop on the result with a strong strike from distance.
Not all hope of continental football is lost for The Town though. If they win their third placed match on Sunday against Crvena Zvezda, they will qualify for the first round of the brand new Europa Cup.
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