Meet the Superclubs, pt. 2 - 1/29/26

After a couple of relatively quiet weeks thanks to European cup ties, we've got several big matches all across this week to recommend, including games for Paris Saint-Germain, Wolfsburg, and Gotham, three more superclubs. Last week I discussed the definition of a superclub as well as the six clubs firmly ensconced in that position (Barcelona, Lyon, Manchesters City and United, Arsenal, and Chelsea). This week, let's talk about the borderline clubs: PSG, Wolfsburg, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid in Europe; and Kansas City, Washington, and Gotham in the NWSL.

EUROPEAN SUPERCLUBS

BAYERN MUNICH: Bayern, having won the last three German titles and in the driver's seat for a fourth in a row, as well directly qualifying for the Champions League quarterfinals, don't look immediately "precarious." The issue isn't necessarily them, it's the Frauen-Bundesliga, once the top league in Europe, now merely fourth in UEFA coefficients. Bayern is the biggest fish in the pond, but it's a medium-sized pond, and they don't have the European dominance that Barcelona and Lyon have in similar situations.

This squad does still have plenty of talent, though. The two biggest stars are German winger Klara Buhl and Danish striker Pernille Harder, a combination that scores so many goals with the former assisting the latter that it's become almost a joke. They're also filled with other German talent, including Giulia Gwinn, the national team's captain, defender Franziska Kett, midfielder Linda Dahlmann, and the talented but sadly injured Lena Oberdorf. They've also got Swedish defender Magdalena Eriksson, Austrian legend Sarah Zadrazil, and exceptionally talented young Japanese star Momoko Tanikawa.

VfL WOLFSBURG: Most of the European clubs on this list are paired with dominant men's clubs; even Lyon was the best men's club in France at the time their dominance began, though they've been surpassed by PSG's riches. That's not the case for Wolfsburg, usually a mid-table men's Bundesliga side, but one that's invested a great deal in their women's club and maintained a position as one of the best in Europe, making a Champions League final in 2023. 

They are currently in a bit of a transitional state, with a new manager clearing out some older players and several young potential stars getting a chance. In the future I think we'll see that Wolfsburg clearly met the "half the team is world-class" standard though it's hard to say now. They're still maintaining a title challenge in Germany and in the playoffs in the Champions League.

Wolfsburg's veterans include a pair of German legends, Alexandra Popp and Svenia Huth, who remain at the center of most everything great the team does. Dutch striker Lineth Beerensteyn also stars, as does German midfielder Janina Minge and defender Sarai Linder. Of the young players, the one who's caught my eye is winger Cora Zicai, a player who has all the physical gifts but doesn't always put them together.

REAL MADRID: The men's side of Real Madrid is the most storied football club in the world. The women's team is….significantly less so. Only founded in 2019, Madrid were one of the last major European clubs to have a women's team, a project they embarked on just as Barcelona's women's team became the galaxy-destroying trophy-winning superclub. Madrid has done well to fortify themselves as the second-best club in Spain, and they've successfully recruited several stars (no doubt the aura of the club helps). But the institutional backing for the women's club seems precarious: they play most of their matches at an empty-looking Alberto de Stefano stadium, a small ground that also came under heavy criticism last year for the pitch being in disrepair.

Whatever the off-pitch problems with Real Madrid, the team has one of the jewels in the crown of world football, Columbian youngster Linda Caicedo. The 20-year-old scored the goal of the tournament at the last WWC, and has continued her path to global superstardom with both Colombia and Real Madrid. Madrid's midfield is loaded with stars, including the Scottish Galactico Caroline Weir, France's Sandie Toletti, Sweden's Filippa Angeldahl, and Germany's Sara Daebritz. Their Spanish stars include winger Athenea del Castillo, Spain's second-choice goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez, and striker Alba Redondo.

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN: In 2012, PSG was purchased by, functionally, the government of Qatar, and they were absolutely flooded with petrodollars in order to become the biggest and best football club on the planet, a goal consummated by the men's side last year with their Champions League victory. The owners also funded PSG's women's side, turning it into one of the best teams on the planet. Unfortunately in that era, the definite best team on the planet, Lyon, played in the same league, and kept being just slightly better than PSG with the exception of one season, 2020-2021, where PSG got their only league title.

But since then the club has somewhat declined. Their best players, Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidatou Diani, went to Lyon. PSG was embarrassingly thrashed 6-0 by Lyon at the start of the current season, and failed to make the Champions League group stage last year, and didn't win a single match in this season's incarnation. This club still has the star players to qualify as a superclub, but they've fallen off the pace of being the very best in a big way, and it's unclear if they'll reverse that decline anytime soon.

The star players include Sakina Karchaoui, one of France's best players; Olga Carmona, the Spanish fullback who scored the goals that won Spain the World Cup; Mary Earps, the legendary English goalkeeper from the consecutive years when England won the Euros and made the World Cup final. PSG also employs French defender Griedge Mbock, and Dutch midfielder Jackie Groenen. Also keep an eye on Congolese striker Merveille Kanjinga, a physically gifted young goalscorer who could use just a bit more consistency. 

THE NWSL SUPERCLUBS

The NWSL is structured completely differently than European leagues, primarily in that thanks to having a salary cap and an institutional commitment to parity, which teams are the "superclubs" is going to change regularly. The last five years have seen four different playoff champions and five different regular season champions, something none of the major European leagues can come even close to. That said, there's consistently going to be around 2-4 NWSL clubs that are "superclubs" by the standards of challenging for trophies and having significant numbers of world-class players. Currently, those are Kansas City Current, Washington Spirit, and Gotham FC.

KANSAS CITY CURRENT: KC had a terrific regular season in 2025, setting records for their dominance and losing only twice. But two of their best attackers got injured before the playoffs and they lost to Gotham in the first round. Oops. This is a team burgeoning with young and rising stars, and trying to keep them all paid and happy may be difficult in the future, but they should be contenders again for now.

Two-time NWSL MVP and arguably the best player on the planet Temwa Chawinga is the jewel in KC's crown. She's less known on the international stage as Malawi isn't a major power, but her speed, aggressiveness, and positional intelligence make her absolutely devastating. Chawinga was one of those injured stars, the other is Michelle Cooper, a right-sided midfielder who seemed to quickly become one of Emma Hayes' most trusted players on the USWNT.

Other Kansas City players to watch include Claire Hutton, the young defensive midfielder who's already a trusted anchor for club and country; Ally Sentnor, Hutton's best friend and an inconsistent but remarkable creative attacker; Debinha, a former NWSL MVP; and Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena, who's my pick for best goalie in the world. Their defense is also rock-solid, including defender Kayla Sharples, fullback Izzy Rodriguez, and defensive midfielder and celebration queen Lo'eau Labonta. 

GOTHAM FC: Gotham are an interesting club thanks to the fact that they have some of the biggest names in the league and consistently win trophies, but it's unclear if they're actually, uh, all that good. They finished in 8th place in the league (out of 14!) but then ground out victories in their three playoff games to be champions for the second time in three years. They also won the North American Champions League, and qualified for the semis for the next season's incarnation.

All that said, Gotham are the closest NWSL to a European superclub in terms of their roster. They have both established domestic stars like Rose Lavelle, Tierna Davidson, and Emily Sonnett, as well as rising young domestic stars like Lily Reale and Jaedyn Shaw. Their international contingent includes starters for the best national teams on the planet: Spain (ruthless striker Esther Gonzalez), Germany (mildly insane goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger), England (rock-solid defender Jess Carter), Brazil (Olympic hero Gabi Portilho).

WASHINGTON SPIRIT: The Spirit have the somewhat unfortunate recent history of having lost the last two NWSL finals, but this has not stopped billionaire investor Michelle Kang from continuing to build it as a superclub, albeit one that's a bit more global than the European-style Gotham. 

Washington's central star is American winger Trinity Rodman, the young, talented, stylish face of American women's soccer and increasingly women's soccer worldwide. Trin recently signed a contract to stay with Washington, ending a lot of angst on the subject. The Spirit may be the club with the best player names in the world, trotting out a roster that includes not just Trinity but also: Croix Bethune, creative young American midfielder; Hal Hershfeldt, the defensive mid who sounds like a 70s character actor; Gift Monday, Nigerian forward who's becoming increasingly a superstar; and Columbian attacking midfielder Leicey Santos.

More conventionally named star players include Tara Rudd (nee McKeown), reigning NWSL defender of the year and a former striker who'll step into the attack; English defender Esme Morgan; veteran fullback Casey Kreuger; and the first Italian in NWSL and regular scorer of banger goals Sofia Cantore. 

THE NEXT SUPERCLUBS?

Next week we'll take a look at the clubs that are potentially banging on the door of "superclub" status, including Orlando Pride and other NWSL contenders, Italian giants Roma and Juventus, Atletico Madrid, and the fascinating experiment that is the London City Lionesses – as well as why "who's next" is one of the biggest questions in women's soccer.

MATCH OF THE WEEK

We have an absolutely stellar slate of matches set for this week, so I'm gonna do this as a ranking:

1. Chelsea-Manchester City (Sun 9:30am EST, ESPN+/Youtube): Despite the finale of an international tournament, I still can't pick a top match above two superclubs, City are able to functionally knock Chelsea out of the title race with a win, Chelsea maybe clawing their way back into it if they take the points. Their first match this season saw Chelsea take the points despite being arguably outplayed, but City's gotten that championship mentality since.

2. Arsenal-Corinthians (Sun 1pm EST, DAZN): Corinthians crashed the party after beating Gotham in the semifinals of FIFA Women's Champions Cup, while Arsenal are the hosts and favorites. Don't count the Brazilians out, they beat Gotham with a ton of grit and terrific fan support.

3. PSG-Lyon (Sun 9am EST, DAZN): How the mighty have fallen! Five years ago this would have been the guaranteed biggest match in women's football, but Lyon has basically wrapped up first place in the league already while beating PSG 6-0 earlier this season. The good news for neutrals is that PSG getting docked points means they'll be desperate for a win to climb back into the playoff/Champions League spots.

4. Tigres-Pachuca (Sun 8pm EST, ????): An exciting match in the Liga MX Clausura with the last two champions clashing, both of whom are vying for top of the table this season. Tigres is led by Spanish legend Jenni Hermoso, Pachuca by Charlyn Corral, who has 166 goals in 171 Liga MX matches for the club. 

(I should note here that while most of the top Mexican matches are on Vix Deportes or the Liga MX Youtube channel, this one does not appear to be. If I can figure out where to find it I'll update.)

5. Wolfsburg-Koln: (Mon, Noon EST, DAZN) Wolfsburg is in second place desperate to keep pace with Bayern Munich; Koln is in sixth and in the midst of the fight for the third Champions League spot. I've never actually watched Koln with long-time German defender Marina Hegering in a match, so this is exciting for me.

6. America-Pumas (Sun, 1pm EST,  Vix/Youtube): The second Liga MX match between teams in the fight for top of the table. Club America has some of the best kits in the world and star youngsters like Scarlett Canberos. Pumas are pretty consistently a playoff team but have yet to break through for a championship.

7. Gotham-AS FAR (Sun 9:45am EST, DAZN): The third-place match of the Women's Champions Cup. I would normally disregard a third-place game in any tournament, but there is a distinct lack of any kind of competitive matches between clubs from different confederations. There's also a notable amount of bonus money on the line so I would expect both clubs to genuinely try. 

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:

The big matches in the WSL largely fell the way of Manchester City, as they beat a game London City Lionesses while Chelsea got shocked by Arsenal 2-0 in front of a big crown at Stamford Bridge. City are now nine points ahead of second-place Chelsea and can increase their lead even further against the Blues this weekend. In the meantime, an exciting battle for second and third places and the Champions League is developing between superclubs Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United, as well as entertainingly overperforming Tottenham Hotspur. 

Most of the rest of Europe was in cup matches. Our other recommended matches from last week, a pair of US friendlies against Paraguay and Chile, were unsurprisingly dominant wins for the US. 

Finally, in the first ever FIFA Women's Champion's Cup, Corinthians shocked Gotham in a scrappy match that the Bantams otherwise dominated but couldn't manage to make a key chance, let alone a goal. A classic snatch-and-grab, but one worth at least a million bucks! 

IN OTHER NEWS: A lot more going on here, for both the past and future of the US Women's National Team. Crystal Dunn, the exceptionally versatile player who helped the Americans win the 2019 World Cup and 2024 Olympics, as well as a tremendous club career, retired this week. Dunn had recently moved to PSG but wasn't consistently playing.

On the other side, months of drama and angst over Trinity Rodman's new contract concluded when Trin signed a three-year deal with Washington making her possibly the highest-paid player in the world. Rodman is one of the very best in the world, and the face of American women's soccer and possibly women's soccer worldwide, so it's a big win for the NWSL after the league's been extremely concerned about losing stars. 

GOAL OF THE WEEK: The superbly named Freya Godfrey (have you considered playing for the Spirit, Freya?) hits Manchester City on the counter to level the match for London City. We love a good stepover, and one that beats Alex Greenwood is truly special. Manchester City would end up winning the match 2-1, somewhat luckily.