The Bayern Munich Frauen just got handed a wild Champions League gauntlet.
Friday’s draw has delivered a schedule that looks less like a league phase and more like someone at UEFA decided to test just how much punishment Bayern Munich Women can take.
The six opponents:
- FC Barcelona (H)
- Paris Saint-Germain (A)
- Real Madrid (H)
- Benfica (A)
- Manchester City (H)
- FK Austria Wien (A)
Three absolute heavyweight showdowns at home, with Barça, Real Madrid and Manchester City all coming to Unterhaching. That is a Murderer’s Row of opponents.
And the away trips are hardly relaxing, either. PSG and Benfica have become familiar
Champions League opponents, while Austria Vienna provides a new challenge — and a reunion with Bayern legend Carina Wenninger.
Klara Bühl is already circling the calendar, calling the home games against Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City “amazing home fixtures” and saying she is especially excited about facing City because former Bayern player Sydney Lohmann is now there.
“We’ve got amazing home fixtures – real crackers against Barcelona, Real Madrid and Man City. That’s the first thing I thought and I’m really excited. Hopefully we can fill the stadium in Unterhaching and kick off our first Champions League season there in style. But I’m also really excited for the away games. Vienna is a new one. We’ve played against Benfica and PSG a few times in recent years. It won’t be easy but it’s all very exciting. My personal highlight is maybe the home game against Manchester City because Sydney Lohmann plays there. But Real Madrid at home will also be huge. We’ve got a big task ahead of us, but we want to come through it, finish in the top four and progress automatically to the knockout stage,” said Bühl in a release from FCBayern.com.
Jovana Damnjanović is embracing the challenge too, pointing out that Bayern Munich have plenty of quality themselves.
“It’ll be really exciting. We’ve been drawn against super opponents. We’ve got three very attractive home games that we can all look forward to. I’m personally very happy that we got Austria Vienna and will play against Bayern legend Carina Wenninger. I’m also excited to face Real Madrid and see Arianna Caruso again. Plus there’s the reunion with Sydney Lohmann at Manchester City. The opposition are good but so are we. We’ll take on every fight and challenge. I think we can get through the league phase,” Damnjanović said.
That is the attitude Bayern Munich Women will need. The objective is clear— finish in the top four and advance directly to the knockout stage.
Easy? Absolutely not.
Fun? Oh, this is going to be fun.
Bring on the Murderer’s Row.
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