Arsenal 3-1 OH Leuven (7-1 agg): Russo double tees up last-eight tie with Chelsea

Alessia Russo scored twice as Arsenal set up a Champions League quarter-final meeting with Chelsea after a 3-1 victory over OH Leuven sealed a 7-1 aggregate triumph.

Having smashed Leuven 4-0 in the opening play-off meeting a week ago, Renee Slegers’ side may already have had one eye on the next round and a potential meeting with their Women’s Super League rivals.

Caitlin Foord snatched at an early volley at a sodden Meadow Park, before Jada Conijnenberg saw a presentable opening denied by the legs of Daphne van Domselaar down the other end.

Arsenal did not have to wait long for their opener, though, as Russo lost her marker and fired a low shot past Lowiese Seynhaeve, who will feel she should have done better with the strike.

But Sara Pusztai levelled just before the half-hour mark when the VAR intervened to overturn an original offside decision against the Leuven midfielder from Kim Everaerts’s pass.

Smilla Holmberg forced Seynhaeve into a fine save after the interval before Linde Veefkind felled Foord, with Mariona Caldentey sending the Leuven goalkeeper the wrong way with her 65th-minute penalty.

A fine one-handed stop denied Russo her second soon after, but she made amends when sealing a routine win in the first minute of stoppage time with a smart, low finish.

The quarter-finals will also see Barcelona take on Clasico foes Real Madrid, who progressed 5-2 on aggregate after a 2-0 victory over Paris FC earlier on Wednesday.

INTO THE UWCL QUARTER-FINALS pic.twitter.com/mYGOe6oLBS

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) February 18, 2026

Data Debrief: Another last-eight stage for Arsenal

It seemed certain given the result last week, but Arsenal have now reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the 17th time, with no side doing so more often.

They also managed to win both legs of a Champions League knockout stage tie for the first time since the 2019-20 round of 16 against Slavia Prague, when they won 5-2 away and 8-0 at home.

And Slegers will feel it was a deserved victory here, having seen his side accumulate 2.32 expected goals (xG) to Leuven’s 1.02.