Ajibade Nets First UWCL Strike; Ucheibe Shines As CB vs Arsenal

Three 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations winners were in action on Thursday during Matchday 2 of the UEFA Women’s Champions League league phase.

At the PSG training centre in Paris, Rasheedat Ajibade scored her first ever UWCL goal for Paris Saint-Germain against Real Madrid.  Real Madrid leapt ahead in the first half through goals from Naomie Feller and Redondo, but Ajibade pulled one back just before the 60-minute mark.

The goal came via a well-taken header Ajibade ghosted unmarked at the far post to nod home a cross from Sakina Karchaoui. This strike marked her first in the competition, achieved in her fifth appearance in UWCL matches.

Elsewhere, Benfica were beaten 2–0 by defending champions Arsenal at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica. Christy Ucheibe, who began her tenure at Benfica originally as a midfielder, played the full 90 minutes after being converted into a centre-back. She delivered a composed, commanding defensive display and made several crucial interventions.

Editorial

Rasheedat Ajibade’s first UWCL goal against Real Madrid is more than a milestone it’s a statement. In a game where PSG were twice behind, her header distilled both composure and cunning drift unmarked, time the run, connect. Under pressure, that displays a striker maturing not just in execution but in temperament

Yet the narrative here is dual. While Ajibade steps into the limelight, Christy Ucheibe may be fulfilling an even subtler metamorphosis. Originally a midfielder, her conversion to centre-back and her assured performance against Arsenal speaks to a football intellect that bends to necessity without losing identity. In the modern women’s game, positional pivots like these are quietly transformative.

In matches of this calibre, where margins are wafer-thin, having players who can stretch notion and role becomes a differentiator. For PSG, Ajibade’s goal injects belief that comebacks can be wrested from deficits. For Benfica, Ucheibe’s evolution gives them a defensive spine forged from midfield instincts.

These stories remind us that greatness in football is not always in the textbook frames. It is often written in the adaptation, in the flexible mind, in the footballer who steps into new dimensions and refuses to be outpaced. We will watch with interest not just for Ajibade’s goals but for Ucheibe’s continued rebirth.

Did You Know?

1. Ajibade’s UWCL goal against Real Madrid made her the first Nigerian woman to score for PSG in the competition.
2. Before converting to centre-back, Ucheibe was often deployed in deeper midfield roles, where her passing range and spatial awareness were her biggest assets.
3. The PSG vs Real Madrid match featured two past Women’s Africa Cup of Nations winners in Ajibade and Jennifer Echegini, both in PSG’s starting XI.
4. Ucheibe joined Benfica in 2020 and only in recent seasons has the club experimented with her in central defence a move now proving fruitful.
5. Ajibade achieved her first UWCL goal in her fifth appearance in the competition, highlighting how persistence and adaptation matter at this level.