Defeat for London City against Man City – but is Europe a real possibility?

London City Lionesses suffer defeat by Manchester City but their performance suggests they are closer to Champions League qualification than expected. Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas joined London City this summer It shows how quickly London City Lionesses have progressed that they were hugely disappointed with a narrow defeat by defending champions Manchester City. For a team that were playing second-tier football 18 months ago, their lofty ambitions of qualifying for the Champions League suddenly don't seem farfetched. London City looked like the better team for most of the afternoon at Hayes Lane but were given a harsh lesson by the visitors in how to be ruthless. Manchester City needed goals from Khadija Shaw and Lauren Hemp against the run of play, but they dug in to win 2-1 and to continue setting the pace at the top.

Those goals came after countless opportunities went begging for London City, who ended the game having had 24 shots but only six on target. The performance was enough, however, to show that London City are more than capable of competing with the WSL's elite. The next question, is whether they can do it consistently. Find interviews and extra content on the BBC Women's Football Weekly feed London City Lionesses are a club who do things differently and, backed by US billionaire