Leverkusen head coach Roberto Pätzold was without Selina Ostermeier, Amy Wrigge (both muscle injuries), Caroline Kehrer (fitness), Loreen Bender (knock) as well as long-term absentee Shen Menglu (cruciate ligament) for his team's first competitive fixture in 118 days. In front of goalkeeper and captain Friederike Repohl, he selected a back four of summer signings Carlotta Wamser and Claudia Wenger together with Lilla Turanyi and Julia Mickenhagen. The double pivot consisted of Sofie Zdebel and Katharina Piljic, with Ruby Grant and Kristin Kögel either side of them. Cornelia Kramer and Vanessa Fudalla, another summer signing, started up front.
Bayern pressed high and had a lot of possession in the early stages, but as a result Leverkusen also had their own attacking moments on the break. As the game went on, the Werkself grew in confidence, Fudalla having a go from distance (10'). With more of the play now taking place in the Munich half, the first big chance fell to Grant, whose close-range effort was saved by FCB keeper Ena Mahmutovic. Ten minutes later, Kramer was inches away from Kögel's free kick. With strong tackling, running, assured possession and discipline, it was an impressive performance from the visitors in the first half, which ended goalless.
Munich came out on the front foot after the break, although Kögel went close in the 54th minute with a first-time finish. For Bayern, Vanessa Gilles (60') and Franziska Kett (64') both missed opportunities in a period of pressure, which the Werkself initially survived. At the other end, Grant put the ball in the net for the first time in the match but the Englishwoman had handled the ball before (65'). Three minutes later, Bayern striker Damnjanovic hit the bar. Then, with a quarter of an hour left of regular time, Leverkusen's resolute rearguard was finally broken. First Gilles headed in from a corner (76'), before Klara Bühl also found the net just a minute later. The German champions played with caution after that and saw out the two-goal lead.
"Obviously we can also be proud of this performance, but right now we're just frustrated because we were at least as good as them, especially in the first half," summarised Pätzold afterwards. "Unfortunately, we then waned a bit in the closing stages and we couldn't exert as much pressure, while Bayern's substitutions strengthened them. Nevertheless, overall it was a decent start to the season. We'll keep working hard every day to continue our development step by step."
The league calendar affords the Leverkusen ladies a few days' rest, with their first home game of the new season taking place on Monday 15 September (18:00 CEST) against newcomers 1. FC Union Berlin. Tickets for the meeting at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion are available HERE.
Match stats:
FC Bayern:Mahmutovic - Kett, Gilles, Eriksson, Simon - Zadrazil, Stanway (Oberdorf 80') - Dallmann (Alara 69'), Tanikawa (Harder 69'), Damnjanović (Caruso 84') - Schüller (Bühl 46')
Bayer 04: Repohl - Wamser, Wenger, Turanyi, Mickenhagen - Grant (Bartz 66'), Zdebel, Piljic (Vidal 59'), Kögel (Mädl 81') - Kramer (Merino Gonzalez 66'), Fudalla (Haim 66')
Goals: 1-0 Gilles (76'), 2-0 Bühl (77')
Referee: Franziska Wildfeuer (Lützen)
Attendance: 57,762 at the Allianz Arena
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