Bayern Fall to Rivals Wolfsburg

This article written by Matthew Coates

Bayern made two changes from their 5-2 UWCL win against Arsenal: Linda Sembrant replaced Carolin Simon in defence and Lea Schüller replaced Sydney Lohmann in attack. As a result, Tuva Hansen played right back and Giulia Gwinn slotted in at left back. Lea Schüller began the match leading the line for Bayern.

The Bayern XI was as follows:

Mala Grohs (GK) – Tuva Hansen, Glódís Viggósdóttir (c), Linda Sembrant, Giulia Gwinn – Sarah Zadrazil, Georgia Stanway – Pernille Harder, Jovana Damnjanović, Klara Bühl – Lea Schüller.

Bayern came into this game on the back of five straight league wins, and seven in all competitions. Confidence must have been high for Bayern after a comprehensive opening win in the UWCL group stage. Wolfsburg began the day five points behind Bayern, having lost their most recent match away to Roma in the UWCL.

Bayern played in this match wearing a special jersey, developed together with Adidas and fashion model Lena Gerke, which helps tackle breast cancer prevention and raising money for the German Breast Cancer Society (DKMS).

Bitter First Half

Wolfsburg unfortunately got off to the better start and scored after just five minutes. Young German winger Vivien Endemann took advantage of an unfortunate back pass from Damnjanović by moving into the penalty area and beating Grohs with a curling shot, 0-1.

The game then turned into an intense one-on-one encounter with lots of rash challenges.

In the 24th minute Bayern suffered a further setback. Damnjanović landed awkwardly on the ground after a rough collision with Wolfsburg centre back Marina Hegering and had to be stretchered off. Bayern will be hopeful that it is not as serious as it looked for the talented Serbian forward. Linda Dallmann came on in her place.

A well worked set piece from Bayern could have provided an equaliser in the 32nd minute, but no one was to be found following a towering Viggósdóttir header across goal. Shortly after, Harder had an even better chance to score after a lovely pass from Schüller, but her shot went narrowly wide. An uncharacteristic miss from the in-form Danish superstar. 

Wolfsburg came close in the 39th minute, with a pass across the goal through Grohs legs, but fortunately no-one in green was there to inflict further damage.

Two minutes before half-time a shot from Schüller was stopped by the goalkeeper from close range after a corner. Throughout the first half Bayern had often looked the more dangerous of the two sides, but came away with nothing to show for their efforts before half-time.

Second half

Even after the break, the game was characterised by many tough duels. Dangerous opportunities were hard to come by early on in the second half, with both teams lacking a fluidity and conviction in their play for large spells. It was tense, as you would expect from a match between sides of such quality.

Wolfsburg came close to extending their lead in the 65th minute with a header that sailed just wide of the post. Bayern failed to heed the warning, and conceded from a corner minutes later from former Bayern player Lineth Beerensteyn, as she smashed a loose ball into the roof of the net, 2-0.

A minute later, further damage was avoided due to an excellent Grohs save, after a dangerous cross from Viven Endemann, who was particularly good today, met the head of the ever-dangerous Alexandra Popp.

Bayern threw players forward and attacked well in the final phase, almost scoring from a header from Dallman in the 74th. The next big chance came again through Harder, who forced Wolfsburg keeper Merle Frohms into a save that eventually bounced off the crossbar. Desperate defending by Wolfsburg in the 96th prevented even a consolation goal for the visitors, as Bayern were forced to head home with nothing to show for their efforts.

Looking ahead to Turin mid-week

Despite the shock 0-4 away win last year, Wolfsburg has always been a tough place for Bayern to visit. One would suspect that Head Coach Alex Straus will not be overly worried about the performance, as if a few (questionable) decisions had gone the other way, Bayern could certainly have left with something to show for their considerable efforts.

What will be of focus for Straus is the away trip to Juventus in the UWCL mid-week. Bayern’s tough fixture run continues as just four days later, moments before the international break, they will pay a visit to Bayer Leverkusen (who are currently second place).

Bayern remain top of the Frauen Bundesliga for now, as Frankfurt have the opportunity to go top this Monday with their match against Freiburg. Bayern will not be overly concerned about that at this stage of the season, but it must be said that Frankfurt are a strong challenger for the League, having proven as much in their comprehensive 3-0 win against Wolfsburg earlier in the season.

Bayern Frauen will certainly have many competitive games ahead of them this season and next up, they are away to Juventus on Wednesday 19th October.