Man City star ‘Bunny’ Shaw could miss both legs against Chelsea in Women’s Champions League quarters

By Canadian Press on March 18, 2025.

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City star Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw could miss both legs against Chelsea in the Women’s Champions League quarterfinals because of a muscle injury.

Shaw was ruled out of Wednesday’s first leg by City manager Nick Cushing, who also said the Jamaica striker is a doubt for the return match in London next week.

Shaw, the top scorer in the Women’s Super League and one of the world’s best strikers, was injured in City’s 2-1 loss to Chelsea in the Women’s League Cup final on Saturday.

Japan international Aoba Fujino was also hurt in the final and will miss the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals at least.

“Two significant players missing,” Cushing said in a news conference on Tuesday. “But for us, these moments give opportunities to other players.

“Both of them are muscle injuries … the problem with these types of injuries, it’s going to take a few days to even diagnose how long the problem is. I think they are significant.”

Pushed on the chances of Shaw and Fujino being available for the second leg on March 27, Cushing said: “When you have muscle injuries and you can’t diagnose the timeframe, it’s not going to be one you can turn around quickly.”

The League Cup final was the first of four games between Chelsea and City in a 12-day span. As well as the two-leg Champions League quarterfinals, they meet in a Women’s Super League match on Sunday.

Neither Chelsea nor City has won the Women’s Champions League.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

The Associated Press