It was not without Piteå's leadership breathing out a bit when the Champions League opponent was drawn in mid-August. A double meet against Bröndby, reigning champion in the Danish football league, was among the best that could happen to the Swedish championship team.

- We had a great trip. It is a relatively cheap trip and then we have a match against Kristianstad just days later, so we stay down in Skåne, says Rikard Fahlman.

- Now Bröndby is a difficult team, but from a financial point of view it became a dream lottery.

Piteå expects that the home arena will be packed, 2,500 spectators, for the match against Bröndby tonight. At the same time, Göteborg FC hopes to be able to hit their audience record of 5,037 when Bayern Munich visit Gamla Ullevi.

Welcome addition

In addition to the audience revenue, the Swedish law, which both starts at home tonight, also receives € 70,000 (corresponding to approximately SEK 744,000) for their participation in the 16-part finals. This is significantly more than in previous years.

- It is extremely welcome. We have a terrible cost for our travels. I usually say that our local village is towards Djurgården and it is 90 km away, says Fahlman.

- It was 500 km to one of the teams (in Kazakhstan), so there was a bit of a breath in the neck at the draw. We think we travel enough as it is.

For Gothenburg, too, the Champions League money comes from the European football association Uefa as a welcome addition. When the club played in the Champions League last time, in 2012, it was rather a loss business financially. Then the compensation of this edition is still a step on the road, believes sports manager Lasse Svensson.

- It's really positive. Then we will probably see what the costs end up with, but hopefully there will be a couple of hundred thousand left that can go into the business, he says.

Group play next?

Both Piteå and Gothenburg are directly qualified for the 16-part finals thanks to their investments in damallsvenskan last year. However, there is much to suggest that even the women's Champions League will have a group game in the future, perhaps in two years.

- For many years we have been pushing for a more attractive Champions League, says Linda Wijkström, commercial manager of the interest organization Elitfotboll Dam.

- One of the alternatives can definitely be to build a strong group game.

According to the Swedish Football Association chairman Karl-Erik Nilsson, who is also a member of Uefa's executive committee, a decision on changes to the women's Champions League may come in two weeks.

I don't want to go into details, because it's still under preparation. But there are good conditions for a substantial lift from 2021, both sportily and financially, he says.