New Delhi: The queens are dead, long live the queens. The headlines were already written, the narratives already branded across the minds of most with a fleeting knowledge of the who’s who of German football. Saturday night, Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg—this was supposed to be a funeral ceremony for VfL Wolfsburg Women, delivered by the reigning champions Bayern Munich, who now sit on the throne of the Women’s Bundesliga.
However, somehow, bafflingly, it was not. After the fulltime whistle on Saturday night, a guttural roar from the stands followed Wolfsburg’s 2-0 victory over archrivals Bayern, in a statement result that has thrown all permutations and predictions regarding the race for this year’s league title up in the air. A reckless back pass from Bayern forward Jovana Damnajovic in the fifth minute was begging to be pounced upon by Wolfsburg’s Vivien Endemann, before substitute Lineth Beerensteyn scored from a botched clearance by Lea Schüller, another Bayern forward, nearly an hour after the first goal.
So that was the story of the match? Wolfsburg sitting deep and just waiting for their bulletproof visitors, who had barely washed their hands after mauling Arsenal 5-2 on Wednesday, to show generosity and gift chances to their Dauerrivalinnen? Far from it.
90+5′ TOPSPIEL GEWONNEN, 3⃣ Punkte in Wolfsburg behalten!🤩🥳💪 Das war ganz stark! 💚🤍#VfLWolfsburg #VfLWolfsburgFrauen #Wölfinnen #WOBFCB pic.twitter.com/D8W76gtDIQ
— VfL Wolfsburg Frauen (@VfL_Frauen) October 12, 2024
In a pre-match press conference, Bayern head coach Alexander Straus had to douse early coronations from the media, expressing his distaste for the “favourites” tag. He was quick to point out that despite the fact that his side had mauled the She-Wolves 4-0 at their own turf in the last campaign, their failures in years before meant that according to him, the Bavarians should instead carry a chip on their shoulders.
Whether these were the exact words the Norwegian said in the dressing room is for anyone to guess, but it was clear from the very first minute that it was the She-Wolves who were starving for revenge, but most importantly, respect. Shortly after kickoff, there was Endemann flying into a tackle and leaving Bayern fullback Giulia Gwinn in a crumpled heap. The hosts were prepared for a street fight, and Bayern’s Damnajovic was is no mood to pass the ball towards that mean sea of green. She passed it backwards, which would’ve seemed the pragmatic choice, only to realize the ball ended up at Endemann’s feet. A couple of seconds later, the ball was lashed into the top-right corner.
Now, it would’ve been fair to assume, especially after their rout of Hoffenheim, that this was a mere sucker punch, a slight misstep heralding the arrival of relentless Bavarian fury laid on the Wolfsburg defence. Instead, chances were a rarity. Star forward Pernille Harder was almost one-on-one before a battering-ram of a challenge from Wolves centerback Marina Hegering, forcing the latter to receive medical treatment. Only a few seconds after she returned, Hegering flung herself into Damnajovic, who had to be stretchered out of the field after a sickening head-on collision.
Despite the hosts’ fiery and proactive defending, Harder is a player with a shark-like tendency to position herself in the most lucrative spaces. Bayern midfielder Sarah Zadrazil managed to squeeze a square pass to the Dane in the six-yard box, with Wolves’ Lena Lattwein deftly throwing herself to poke the ball out of her feet. The inevitable moment seemed to had arrived in the 34th minute, with Schüller’s stupendous flick allowing Harder to leave the Wolves backline in her dust. The entire stadium knew what came next, waiting for the net to ripple. Harder, of all people, dragged it woefully wide.
Schlusspfiff in Wolfsburg.
#WOBFCB #FCBayern #FCBFrauen pic.twitter.com/9XDaeGM93W
— FC Bayern Frauen (@FCBfrauen) October 12, 2024
The Dane, with two hattricks in the new season already, would’ve been aching to make amends, but instead had to settle for the next chances to fall at the laps of the hosts. First it was midfielder Svenja Huth driving down the byline, somehow squeezing a pass through a congestion at the near post, with the ball rolling across the goalmouth begging to be tapped in by a green shirt. Around the end of the first half, to offer some solidarity with fellow veteran Harder, it was Alexandra Popp who couldn’t score from close-range, with her audacious back-heel effort failing to test Bayern keeper Maria Grohs.
Desperation was a key emotion in the second half; Bayern were desperate to score, while on the other hand, the hosts pressed and counter-pressed with the ferocity, well, of a wolf, and were desperate to get to any loose ball before a Bayern player. The result? The first real chance of the half came in the 58th minute, and that too in the Bayern box, when a clever free-kick routine from the host had Zadrazil scramble to win a header at the back post, only to almost send her clearance through her own net.
So, narratives destroyed so far; Bayern to stroll to another league title, Wolfsburg can’t defend. What about Lineth Beerensteyn’s profligacy? The new Wolves signing was introduced as a substitute in the 65th minute. Two minutes in, she met fullback Lynn Wilms’ corner delivery with a poorly connected header. Bayern’s Lea Schüller tried to slash the ball away, but could only helplessly watch the ball remain as it was, before Beerensteyn, almost cathartically, sent it into the roof of the Bayern net.
Grohs was called into action shortly after, getting mere fingertips on Popp’s close-range header before it crashed into the crossbar. In the 74th minute, a corner grazed the Wolves keeper gloves, only for Bayern substitute Linda Dallmann to somehow not put her header into the open net. In a replica of Harder’s golden opportunity of the first half, Wolves substitute Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir was through on goal, but managed to place her shot exactly where the Dane had before.
This instant classic was fitting of only the most dramatic of climaxes, with Harder finally managing to catch the Wolves backline in a rare moment of flat-footedness. Her run was timed perfectly. Yes, Frohms and Lattwein had managed to squeeze a limb before her shot, which was deflected but surely landing inside the goal, right? The ex-Wolfsburg forward could only offer a wry smile of disbelief when it bounced off the crossbar.
Bayern’s 0-4 rout of Wolfsburg last season sent shockwaves through the world of German football. Read the match report of a vengeful statement win at the Volkswagen Arena. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
