From Putellas' greatness to Bayern Munich's tactics: Five things we learned from the Women's Champions League

The Women's Champions League returned with a bang this week, with some of the most highly-anticipated clashes of the group stages taking place.

After giving Chelsea a serious test in the last round, Juventus played out a thrilling 2-2 draw with two-time winners Wolfsburg, while Lyon, another former champion, hosted Bayern Munich.

As ever, there was plenty to take note of across the eight games. Here are five things we learned...

It's Fleming season

Jessie Fleming played more minutes at the Olympic Games in the summer, helping Canada win gold, than she did in her first season with Chelsea.

Blues boss Emma Hayes is always eager to give new signings time to settle in and, fresh out of college, Fleming was slowly integrated throughout the last campaign.

She's still not a guaranteed starter, but her involvement has stepped up with the London club this season and her quality is shining through as a result.

A goal and an assist against Servette on Tuesday followed her winning strike against Aston Villa on Sunday, taking her up to three goals and three assists already, despite her making only four starts so far.

Putellas undoubtedly the world's best

It's awards season. GOAL50 voting is well under way, to be decided by the fans for the first time, while accolades like the Ballon d'Or will be dished out very soon.

Quite simply, those individual prizes should not be going to anyone but Alexia Putellas. The Barcelona star has been so far ahead of everyone else for the past 12 months that she is on another planet.

Two goals on Wednesday against Hoffenheim – including a rocket of a free-kick – took the midfielder up to 35 goals in 52 appearances this calendar year. She also set up Marta Torrejon for Barca's fourth of the night to take her assists tally to 26. Nobody can compete with those numbers.

Life in Europe getting tough for Swedish clubs

Sweden was once at the very forefront of women's football in Europe. Its clubs were champions on the continent and its league could boast players like Marta.

Things have changed dramatically in recent years, though, as investment increases in countries traditionally more successful on the men's side.

Swedish champions Rosengard didn't reach the group stages of the Champions League this year, while second-placed only Hacken got their first points on Wednesday, against a Benfica side that is just four years old.

It was a positive result and performance, but played amid a backdrop of some of the team's best players preparing to move on.

Swedish players are in demand across the world and its national team will continue to thrive, but it will be interesting to see how clubs respond to the challenges they are beginning to face.

Arsenal's supposed 'Miedema-dependence' fading

There have been criticisms in the past that Arsenal depend too much on Vivianne Miedema, their serial goalscorer and record-breaker. This season, though, new head coach Jonas Eidevall has began to squash that myth.

Miedema has played a full 90 minutes on very few occasions, so the goalscoring burden has been shared around a lot more and Miedema even spent the past two weeks resting after a busy summer at the Olympics. She returned to the line-up on Wednesday night, but was not involved in any of Arsenal's five goals against Koege.

That is not a bad thing for her. The 25-year-old is still one of the best players in the world and playing well for her club. It is healthy to see the responsibilities to score and create being divided up among her team-mates.

With Miedema out-of-contract in the summer, and no news of a new deal yet, it's not a bad thing for the team either, given the possibility of them soon losing their best player.

Getty/Goal

Bayern should show more belief

Going into Wednesday's clash with seven-time European champions Lyon, Bayern Munich fielded a star-studded XI with plenty of great options on the bench. But their game-plan did not suggest as much.

This is a team that was crowned German champion last season, reached the Women's Champions League semi-finals and has every reason to believe they can go toe-to-toe with Europe's elite. Lyon have defensive injuries that have made them vulnerable, too.

However, Bayern played on the counter a lot more than expected and succumbed to a 2-1 defeat in France. As well as their obvious qualities, perhaps Lyon's unbeatable aura still has an impact on the mentality of opponents, despite their trophyless campaign last term.