Following the humiliating defeat away to Barcelona midweek, Bayern travelled to their eternal rivals VfL Wolfsburg for a top-of-the-table clash. Bayern’s only league loss last season was in this same fixture,
and have often struggled in the Autostadt barring the shock 0-4 win two seasons ago.
Wolfsburg had started the season in a very similar vein to Bayern, with their solitary draw being a 3-3 thriller away at Hamburg in their opening fixture. In stark contrast to the Munich Frauen however, they were coming off a 4-0 UWCL thrashing at home to Paris Saint Germain, and thus were high in confidence.
Head Coach José Barcala made three changes to the Starting XI from the battering midweek; both Guilia Gwinn and Glódis Perla Viggósdóttir started in defence ahead of Magdalena Eriksson and the injured Carolin Simon, and Linda Dallmann started in place of Lea Schüller in attack. As a result of the defensive changes, Kett was shifted to left-back and Gwinn started in her natural position.
The Bayern XI was as follows:
Ena Mahmutovic (GK) – Giulia Gwinn, Glódis Perla Viggósdóttir, Stine Ballisager, Franziska Kett – Georgia Stanway, Arianna Caruso – Linda Dallmann, Momoko Tanikawa, Pernille Harder, Klara Bühl
The Match
Luckily, from a Bayern perspective at least, the match started out as a 50-50 brawl. There were some fears in the fanbase before the game, understandably following the battering midweek, that Bayern may spiral even further. You definitely could tell some of the confidence had been knocked out of the Bayern players, resulting in a number of sloppy giveaways in defensive areas.
In the 14th minute, following an errant pass by Bühl, Zicai picked the ball up and produced a wicked cross onto Popp’s head, but her header flashed wide of Mahmutovic’s goal. The two teams were trading blows as seen moments later, following a quick counter Bühl drove past her marker in the box, but her shot towards the near post was comfortable for Stina Johannes.
On the whole, the momentum was in Wolfsburg’s favour. They were struggling to create real chances, but caused some panic in Bayern’s backline, as was seen in the 26th minute. Left-back Janou Levels flashed a shot wide from the left of the box, but no-one was there to divert it past Mahmutovic.
Following a counter attack seconds later, Bayern would be the first to strike. Dallmann was given the ball with plenty of space to drive into, but with most of Wolfsburg’s defenders back, she decided to lay it off to Bühl. She cut inside on the edge of the box and rifled a shot into the bottom corner – a moment of individual brilliance to provide the breakthrough, 0-1!
Wolfsburg almost replied instantaneously, with some individual quality from former Bayern player Lineth Beerensteyn against Ballisager, but her shot toward the near post was comfortable for Mahmutovic.
Bühl almost doubled Bayern’s lead in the 32nd minute, after managing to run at the Wolfsburg defence from her own half. She cut inside once again past a helpless Camilla Küver, but her vicious shot was tipped over the bar.
From that point on, right up to the half, both teams struggled to create anything more than half chances, and thus Bayern were able to hold on until the half time whistle sounded. Bayern looked the more competent attacking force overall, but were clearly relieved to be up before the break given the nature of the game.
Shortly after play resumed though, Wolfsburg got their equaliser. After a number of defensive blocks, Janina Minge struck a powerful shot that was veering well wide, but it deflected off of Caruso’s knee into the bottom corner, 1-1. That was the first league goal Bayern had conceded since April.
Wolfsburg were in the ascendency with the home crowd behind them, and wanted to put Bayern to the sword. But from out of nowhere yet again, Bayern would be the ones to go in front.
In the 57th minute, A brilliant long ball was played by Viggósdóttir behind the defence. Gwinn was able to control it, and hook it back into the centre of the box. A misjudged defensive header meant the ball fell to Tanikawa, who volleyed past a scrambling Johannes in net, 1-2!
Bayern almost extended their lead just before the hour mark, after some good work by Bühl. She laid it off to Harder, whose touch was exquisite and set up her shot toward the near post, but Johannes produced a great save.
Barcala saw this as a good time to make some changes, replacing the goalscorer Tanikawa with Alara Şehitler and Viggósdóttir with Magdalena Eriksson.
Wolfsburg showed a lot of determination to get back on level terms for the next 30 minutes, but were faced with some dogged defending from Bayern and a team effort to maintain the lead. Some crucial blocks from Ballisager were key to stopping some dangerous attempts from Kessya Bussy and Ella Peddemols, as well as some necessary Mahmutovic saves.
As the board was raised aloft, announcing eight minutes of added time, Lea Schüller was brought on in place of Harder, in what would turn out to be an inspired change.
Following a breakaway, Schülller was in a tussle with defender Joelle Wedemeyer. As the last woman in defence, she poked the ball towards her own goal and Schüller attempted to latch onto it, but was pulled back. As a result, Wedemeyer was sent off for denial of a goal scoring opportunity, and Wolfsburg were down to 10.
Moments later, Bayern would go on to put the result beyond doubt. A brilliant passage of play between Bühl, Alara and Stanway down the left resulted in Alara cutting past Thea Bjelde into the box and curling a shot past Johannes on her weaker foot, 3-1!
Bühl almost made it four in the dying stages but dragged her shot wide, but you could feel the relief from the Bayern players as the final whistle sounded: a crucial away win in Wolfsburg.
Conclusions
It has been a week of learning for José Barcala and his team, no doubt. Bayern appeared defensively woeful midweek. You can excuse losing to Barcelona as they are the best team in the world, but losing 7-1 when you claim to be capable of winning the competition is an outright humiliation.
Domestically, in recent years, Bayern have been superb. Whilst they did not play their best in this match, it was great to see the fight and determination, something that looked lacking at times in Catalonia. To come away with a win, especially ahead of a must-win UWCL fixture next up, is extremely important and relieves some of the undoubted pressure on Barcala and the team. Bayern only have two more games before the international break, and will be hoping to win both.
Next up for the Munich Frauen is a UWCL home fixture against Juventus on Thursday evening.
