Why Georgia Stanway thinks Bayern Munich got “overexcited” against Arsenal | OneFootball

Georgia Stanway (FC Bayern Munich)

Georgia Stanway was solid in the middle of the park for Bayern Munich as they came back from two goals down to beat Arsenal 3-2 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

And she said afterwards that the slow start could have been down to the group’s feelings about playing at the Allianz Arena.

“It always happens to us first half when we play here,” she told Disney+ after the game. “The more that we play here, the more that we’ll get comfortable being in this environment. It’s a little bit abnormal, and sometimes we get a little bit overexcited, feeling the emotions a little bit, but as soon as we went in at half-time we were able to talk about it, find solutions, look at pictures. Second half was a completely different game.”

And she spoke more about why they feel a touch of additional pressure.

“The reality is we want people to come back. The nerves are on in order to create a good environment, a good game, to keep fans here and provide this stadium for us as much as possible.”

The Allianz Arena has a capacity of 75,000 – Bayern Munich are used to playing at the FC Bayern complex, with a stadium that holds 2,500.

Georgia Stanway: We were unsatisfied with the first half

Bayern conceded two first-half goals and it looked like the Gunners – last season’s winners in the competition – were en route to a straightforward win.

But after the introduction of Pernille Harder in the second half, the match turned around.

“It feels good but it’s also a bit of a relief,” said Stanway. “We were very unsatisfied with the first half, and I think second half was just a completely different game and a massive show of character.”

Of her own role, she reflected: “The team give me a lot of responsibility, a lot of ways to find solutions, and I enjoy the pressure in that position.”

And of the way the crowd got behind the team, she said: “It’s special and I think the second half when we got the goal, we hear the crowd, we get it again, we hear the crowd, every single defensive action we heard the crowd again.”

Bayern’s next Champions League match is against Paris Saint-Germain next week.