Barcelona and Lyon top Women's Champions League standings, Chelsea routs Roma

Ewa Pajor put Barcelona on course for a 3-1 win against Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday and moved within sight of Sam Kerr's scoring record.

Pajor’s opening goal in the 29th minute at Estadi Johan Cruyff was her 15th in 16 appearances in the group or league phase of European club soccer's top competition. According to UEFA, only Chelsea striker Kerr has more at this stage of the Champions League, with 16 goals.

“For me it was most important that today we won,” Pajor said after a victory that keeps Barcelona top of the standings with one game to go.

Barcelona was already guaranteed a place in the playoffs at least and is ahead of Lyon on goal difference.

Chandra Davidson equalized for Benfica just after halftime, but two goals in the space of four minutes effectively sealed the win for Barcelona.

Christy Ucheibe scored an own goal in the 54th and that was followed by another from Alexia Putellas.

Twelve teams advance from the league phase, with the top four qualifying directly for the quarterfinals. The other eight teams advance to the playoffs.

Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Manchester United, Lyon, Real Madrid, and Wolfsburg have also qualified for the quarterfinals or playoffs.

Melchie Dumornay scored twice in Lyon's 3-0 win at Manchester United. She now has eight goals in her last nine Champions League games.

Tabitha Chawinga headed Lyon in front in the 12th and Dumornay scored in the 81st and 90th to keep the French giant neck and neck with Barcelona.

Chelsea routed Roma 6-0 at Stamford Bridge with six different scorers.

Roma got off to a bad start when Valentina Bergamaschi scored an own goal in the 13th and trailed 3-0 by halftime. Chelsea got another three after the break with Lucy Bronze rounding off the scoring in the 86th.

Fiamma Benitez struck in the 88th to secure a 2-2 draw for Atletico Madrid against Bayern Munich after Pernille Harder's double had looked like leading the Germans to victory.

Shooting from just outside the area, Fiamma's effort clipped the bar on the way into the back of the net.

A penalty in the 81st by Lorena Azzaro sealed a 1-0 win for Paris FC at Valerenga, which had to play the second half with 10 players after Karina Saevik was sent off.

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

OL Lyonnes' Tabitha Chawinga, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring their side's first goal during a women's Champions League soccer match against Manchester United, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Leigh, England. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

Roma's Omorinsola Babajide, left, and Chelsea's Catarina Macario in action during the Women's Champions League soccer match between Chelsea and Roma at Stamford Bridge, London, Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Valerenga's Karina Saevik, right, and Paris FC's Celina Ould Hocine, left, challenge for the ball during the Women's Champions League football match between Valerenga and Paris FC in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (Thomas Andersen/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Roma's Winonah Heatley, right, and Chelsea's Sam Kerr in action during the Women's Champions League soccer match between Chelsea and Roma at Stamford Bridge, London, Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

OL Lyonnes' Tabitha Chawinga celebrates scoring their side's first goal during a women's Champions League soccer match against Manchester United, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Leigh, England. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

MOUNT VERNON, Washington (AP) — Residents packed up valuables and prepared to flee rising rivers in western Washington state Wednesday as a new wave of heavy rain swept into a region still reeling from a storm that triggered rescues and road closures a day earlier.

In the Pacific Northwest, an atmospheric river was swelling rivers toward record levels, with major flooding expected in some areas including the Skagit River, in a major agricultural valley north of Seattle. Dozens of vehicles were backed up at a sandbag-filling station in the town of Mount Vernon as authorities warned all residents who live within the river's floodplain to be ready to evacuate.

“We’re preparing for what increasingly appears to be a worst-case scenario here," Mount Vernon Mayor Peter Donovan said.

In the Mount Rainier foothills southeast of Seattle, Pierce County sheriff’s deputies rescued people at an RV park in Orting, including helping one man in a Santa hat wade through waist-deep water. Part of the town was ordered to evacuate over concerns about the Puyallup River’s extremely high levels and its upstream levees.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency Wednesday. “Lives will be at stake in the coming days,” he said.

“It’s time to pay attention,” said Gent Welsh, adjutant general of the Washington National Guard.

Hundreds of Washington National Guard members will be sent to help communities, Welsh said.

The Skagit River is expected to crest at roughly 47 feet (14.3 meters) in the mountain town of Concrete early Thursday, and roughly 41 feet (12 meters) in Mount Vernon early Friday morning.

Those are both “record-setting forecasts by several feet,” Skagit County officials said.

Mount Vernon, the largest city in the county with some 35,000 residents, completed a wall in 2018 that helps protect the downtown from flooding. But the city — parts of which are in the floodplain, including commercial areas — is on high alert.

“With a flood of the magnitude that’s predicted here in the next couple of days, I’m concerned about all of our buildings in the city in the floodplain,” said Donovan, the mayor.

Harrison Rademacher, a meteorologist with the weather service in Seattle, described the atmospheric river soaking the region as “a jet stream of moisture” stretching across the Pacific Ocean “with the nozzle pushing right along the coast of Oregon and Washington.”

Authorities in Washington have knocked on doors to warn residents of imminent flooding in certain neighborhoods, and evacuated a mobile home park along the Snohomish River. The city of Snohomish issued an emergency proclamation, while workers in Auburn, south of Seattle, installed temporary flood control barriers along the White River.

Along Interstate 5 between Seattle and Portland, firefighters on Tuesday rescued people who tried to drive on flooded roads, including a semitruck driver, said Malachi Simper, spokesperson for Lewis County Fire Protection District 5. Authorities rescued a family of six from their home in Chehalis, he said, where the road was covered by about 4 feet (1.2 meters) of water. No one was injured.

Another storm system is expected to bring more rain starting Sunday, Rademacher said. “The pattern looks pretty unsettled going up to the holidays.”

Rush reported from Portland, Oregon. Associated Press writers Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland, and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.

A flag ripples in the wind as snow falls in Lowville, New York, on Tuesday night, Dec. 9, 2025. The area faces a winter storm warning through Thursday. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)

Rescue workers with Chehalis Fire venture into a flooded neighborhood to pick up evacuees after heavy rains, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Chehalis, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A flag ripples in the wind as snow falls in Lowville, New York, on Tuesday night, Dec. 9, 2025. The area faces a winter storm warning through Thursday. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)

Floodwaters surround homes and buildings after heavy rains, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Chehalis, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Maery Schine, 11, is helped out of a rescue boat by rescue workers with Chehalis Fire after evacuating with her father Patric, second from left, following flooding after heavy rains in the region Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Chehalis, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A man checks on a car caught in flooding after heavy rains Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Napavine, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Chehalis Fire rescue workers help residents evacuate their flooded neighborhood after heavy rains in the region Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Chehalis, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)