When England's Under-23s took on Norway back in November, there was no shortage of top talent on show. Be it Ruby Mace or Maisie Symonds, who have both been involved in Sarina Wiegman's senior team; Gracie Prior, a starter in seven of the first nine games of the season for Women's Super League leaders Manchester City; or Martine Fenger on the opposite side, the teenage forward who made her Barcelona debut earlier that month. And yet it was 17-year-old Erica Parkinson, a player some five years younger than some of those involved, who stood out most.

Next week, at Wembley Stadium, the two best national teams in European women's football will meet once more as England, winners of the last two European Championship titles, welcome Spain, the reigning world champions. It'll be their sixth competitive encounter in less than four years and it again brings with it huge stakes as the two bid for the one automatic qualification spot from their group for next summer's World Cup. That England could be without their captain, Leah Williamson, then, is a huge blow.

Khadija Shaw's early strike helped Manchester City set up a blockbuster FA Cup semi-final clash with Chelsea, as the Women's Super League leaders defeated second-tier table-toppers Birmingham 1-0 on Monday evening. The Cityzens had never lost to lower-tier opposition in the competition and while their in-form hosts gave a good account of themselves, when Shaw broke the deadlock after just eight minutes, that record rarely looked in danger of changing.

As the club's brand goes from strength to strength, Arsenal Women have gone out on their own with their first-ever fashion collaboration.

Hannah Hampton's blushes were spared by Veerle Buurman's wonderstrike as Chelsea beat Tottenham 2-1 on Monday to reach a sixth successive FA Cup semi-final. The Blues were on track for a place in the last four after Sam Kerr's first-half header until Hampton completely misjudged Eveliina Summanen's free-kick in a rare lapse. But just as extra-time was looming, up stepped the impressive Buurman, who rolled past one defender before unleashing a brilliant strike that flew into the top corner to break Spurs hearts late on.

Arsenal crashed out of the Women's FA Cup on Sunday, suffering a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Brighton. The Gunners came into the game in flying form, winning 11 of their last 12 games, with that defeat coming last time out in a Champions League quarter-final second leg at Chelsea in midweek that didn't stop them progressing into the last four. But the Seagulls showed no fear, starting fast against the reigning European champions before making their chances count after the break, as goals from Madison Haley and Caitlin Hayes put them into the FA Cup semi-finals.

Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman has been forced to rejig her squad slightly ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Spain and Iceland next week, after an injury withdrawal. The England manager has taken the opportunity to hand out another maiden call-up while also strengthening her squad with a further body, by adding Chelsea full-back Niamh Charles following her strong return to action after three months out.

And then there were four. One of Barcelona, Arsenal, Bayern Munich or Lyon will be crowned winners of the Women's Champions League next month, after the quartet progressed through an enthralling quarter-final stage over the past week. Bayern will take on Barca later this month while holders Arsenal will face Lyon, with the winners to meet in the final in Oslo, Norway, at the end of May.

Arsenal's Women's Champions League title defence remains well and truly on track after the Gunners withstood Chelsea's attempts at a comeback on Wednesday, falling to a narrow and late 1-0 defeat to win 3-2 on aggregate. It felt like the Blues had to start fast and score early to stand any chance of overcoming the deficit, and so once Arsenal had prevented them from doing exactly that, progression to the semi-finals rarely looked in doubt.