Bayer 04 Women’s superb display against Bayern goes unrewarded

“The defeat really hurts. We put a lot into it, fought with passion, defended well and didn’t give much away. The fact that Bayern are so clinical with just a handful of clear-cut chances shows just how good they are,” said Pätzold: “We had to chase the ball a lot, especially in the first half, but we kept getting back into the action time and again. Taking the lead gave us a boost and we wanted to be much more proactive in the second half. It’s almost impossible not to concede a chance to Bayern, and they struck brutally from a set-piece. We showed character, fought back immediately and rewarded ourselves with a brilliant goal. We wanted to keep playing forward after that and win the match, as our substitutions underlined. It’s a blow the goal we conceded came while we were a player down. Given the space we gave Bayern as a result, they were simply clinical.”

Following the hard-fought 2-1 win away to TSG Hoffenheim, Pätzold had made two changes to his starting line-up. Claudia Wenger and Paulina Tomasiak – who scored the winning goal in the away victory at Sinsheim – started in place of Sofie Zdebel (serving a one-match ban) and Vanessa Fudalla. In the absence of captain Carolin Simon (muscle injury), Melissa Friedrich (knock) and Zdebel, striker Cornelia Kramer wore the captain’s armband from the start for the first time.

Top match in ideal conditions

Before kick-off, everything was set for a thrilling top-of-the-table clash. The stands at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium were packed to the rafters in perfect footballing weather, the home fans sang the Leverkusen anthem at the top of their voices, and two large Bayer 04 flags waved across the pitch underlined the special significance of the Werkself’s clash with the reigning German champions. The opening minutes already showed the match against FC Bayern, taking place on a sustainability matchday featuring numerous activities, would not only be exciting but also a tough contest: FC Bayern applied pressure straight away and, even in the early stages, made several dangerous forays into the hosts’ penalty area. But Pätzold’s team held their ground – and increasingly kept FCB away from goal. Leverkusen defended resolutely and, through strong tackling, managed to shift the play into midfield.

Although FC Bayern stepped up the pressure, they rarely posed a real threat, despite the champions enjoying more than 70 per cent possession at times. On 27 minutes, Jovana Damnjanovic missed the target by a wide margin. Shortly after that, Rafaela Borggräfe saved a shot from Klara Bühl with ease and also denied Pernille Harder after she broke through (34').

brilliant opener

That moment did not cause any confusion within the Leverkusen team – quite the opposite: shortly afterwards, the Werkself created their first dangerous chance in front of the Bayern goal. But the shot from Loreen Bender was blocked. Bayer 04 kept at it – and were rewarded in spectacular fashion: Tomasiak took a free-kick from 20 metres out. The ball deflected off Damnjanovic, who was standing in the wall, and sailed into the top left-hand corner. A dream goal to take the lead, that was also celebrated by Fernando Carro, Thomas Eichin and Stefan Kießling in the stands (36'). As the Werkself continued to defend well and were astute tactically so the score remained 1–0 at half-time.

two goals in two minutes

The match picked up pace immediately after the break. First, Vanessa Gilles headed home from a cross by Giulia Gwinn to make it 1–1 (51’). In the very next attack, Tomasiak scored her second stunning goal of the evening: Maja Sternad won the ball in midfield and played the striker through; she shot from 15 metres out and hit the ball into the roof of the net (52'). The top-of-the-table clash lived up to its name, with the fans treated to a superb spectacle. Much to the delight of the Leverkusen supporters, however, the game settled down again. Bayern Munich tried hard to get back on terms again but initially came up against the hosts’ tightly packed defence. 

The game became tense gain on 68 minutes. And sure enough, Bayern Munich scored once more: following a cross from Gwinn, Edna Imade – who had only just come on as part of a triple substitution – headed home the equaliser.

In the closing stages, the top-of-the-table clash didn’t lose any of its pace. FC Bayern still had more possession and were determined to win the match. Yet the Werkself also kept making attacking forays. Just when it looked as though the match was heading for a draw, Bayern once again showed their true class: Bühl played Alara Sehitler through into the penalty area, and she scored with a low shot into the far corner to make it 3–2 to FC Bayern sealing the victory.

next up: away to sc Freiburg, DFB Pokal in Berlin

This weekend, the Werkself are back in action away from home. On Sunday 20 September (16:00 CEST), Pätzold’s side are away to SC Freiburg. The DFB Pokal campaign starts a week later. On Sunday, 27 September (14:00 CEST), the Black and Reds face second-tier side FC Viktoria Berlin in the first round.

Highlights:

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Borggräfe – Merino Gonzalez, Turanyi, Ostermeier, Müller – Wenger, Platner (Misini 72’) - Bender (Kehrer 72’), Tomasiak - Kramer (Loonen 78'), Sternad (Fudalla 79’)

Bayern Munich: Mahmutovic – Gwinn, Viggosdottir, Gilles, Kett (Naschenweng 66’) – Tanikawa, Amani (Sehitler 73’) – Dallmann (Proost 66’), Harder (Zadrazil 85’), Bühl – Damnjanovic (Imade 66’) 

Goals: 1–0 Tomasiak (36'), 1–1 Gilles (51'), 2–1 Tomasiak (52'), 2–2 Imade (68'), 2–3 Sehitler (88')

Yellow cards: Merino – Tanikawa, Amani, Proost

Referee: Anna-Lena Heidenreich (Lübeck)

Attendance: 2,272 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium