A Game of Two Halves Sees Bayern Crash Out of UWCL | OneFootball

Wednesday evening, Bayern travelled away to Lyon in the UWCL with a lot of work to do if they were to continue on in the competition.

This article written by Matthew Coates

Head Coach Alexander Straus made four changes from the DFB Pokal Semi-Final comeback against Hoffenheim. Mala returned in goal, Gwinn replaced Ulbrich in defence, Zigiotti started ahead of Zadrazil in midfield and Tanikawa started ahead of Alara in attack. Glódís evidently was not fit enough to start, and as a result of Zadrazil dropping to the bench, Eriksson was given the captaincy.

The Bayern XI was as follows:

Mala Grohs (GK) – Giulia Gwinn, Tuva Hansen, Magdalena Eriksson (c), Carolin Simon – Sydney Lohmann, Julia Zigiotti – Klara Bühl, Momoko Tanikawa, Pernille Harder, Jovana Damnjanović

Bayern came into this match after reaching the Pokal Final in their last performance, but obviously had one eye focused on this match, with the chance to qualify for the Semi-Finals against either Arsenal or Real Madrid.

Lyon were dominant again on the weekend against Saint Etienne (0-5) and were looking to secure their passage through to the Semi-Finals in typically strong fashion.

Hopeful First Half

Bayern started the match looking full of confidence. It was a half of few real chances, but more attacking moments were made by Bayern.

In the seventh minute, a nicely clipped ball was played into Bühl by Zigiotti, and her control took her inside and her shot was blocked – a first glimmer of hope for Bayern.

Lyon did not look convincing at times, and their only real opportunities came on the break. In the ninth minute, Chawinga was sent on a run bearing down on Bayern’s defence, but her eventual shot was mishit and very wide.

Lyon did have the next good chance, their only other chance from open play in the first half came in the 16th minute, where Diani did well to breeze past Simon and lay off to Dumornay, but her shot was blazed over the bar.

Bayern were struggling to create clear opportunities, but they were going to have to do so to get back into this game. And Bayern ultimately found a way to halve the deficit!

After a loose ball was latched onto by Simon, she laid it off to Damnjanovic who played it into Bühl. A lovely give and go between Bühl and Tanikawa led to a piercing through ball by the latter for Bühl to run onto behind the Lyon backline – she held off Giles and created enough space to place a shot on her left foot into the far corner, 0-1 (2-1)!In the 43rd minute, a Bühl freekick from deep was headed narrowly wide behind her own goal by Marozsán, resulting in a corner kick. Bühl took it, and lasered a ball toward the near post onto the head of Lohmann, but she could not keep her header down and it flew over the bar.

Bayern certainly had the better of the two teams in that first half, and Lyon would have to sharpen up in the second half to prevent extra time or worse.

Hapless Second Half

Unfortunately for Bayern, that is exactly what Lyon did. There is a reason why they are record UWCL champions.

No more than 30 seconds into the second half, a defensive mix up at the back between Simon and Hansen meant that a dangerous cross was cleared by Hansen into Diani. She controlled and produced a cross toward the back post, and Dumornay rose highest to head home, 1-1 (3-1).

Damnjanović had to go off in the 51st minute through injury, and Schüller replaced her.

Bayern had to keep their heads following the goal, but unfortunately did anything but. Dumornay played a long ball in behind Bayern’s defensive line, but Gwinn was there to sweep up. She controlled well with her chest, took a touch and then took another touch, and that third touch was poor. Diani was alive to the opportunity, and quickly snatched at a shot, releasing a powerful strike into the net, 2-1 (4-1).

After the second goal, Bayern seemed to lose all hope, and understandably. After working so hard to get back in the game, they had thrown it away by the 54th minute.

Lyon piled on the misery in the 59th minute, but this time in sensational fashion. Some incredible interplay between their electric front three led to Diani in behind Simon, who crossed low toward the back post for Chawinga to tap in, 3-1 (5-1). A really well worked goal to ensure Lyon’s path into the Semi-Finals.

Lyon sensed there was an opportunity for more, and in the 65th minute, Zigiotti was forced to clear the ball off the line following a dangerous header by Egurrola following a corner.

Straus rolled the dice, replacing Harder and Simon with Alara and Kett respectively. Bayern’s last changes came in the 78th minute, replacing Bühl and Lohmann with Dallman and Caruso.

Lyon would go on to inflict one last dagger in the 94th, with Dumornay playing substitute Hegerberg through one-on-one with Mala after Hansen had played her onside, and she slotted it through Mala’s legs for Lyon’s 4th on the night, 4-1 (6-1)

Domestic Titles Up For Grabs

In Bayern’s final match before the international break, they play Leverkusen. They will have to be able to lick their wounds from the ultimately humiliating result over the two legs. What will frustrate them most is that the majority of the damage done was self-inflicted, and that cannot happen at the highest level.

The reality is that Bayern, by failing to top their UWCL group, were always likely to face one of the contenders for the UWCL crown in the quarter finals. That fateful draw in Vålerenga and that painful loss on the final matchday away to Arsenal sealed their fate, which meant that the path forward was always going to be tougher than it needed to be.

If Bayern wish to progress further in Europe in future seasons, they will have to hope that the injuries are kinder to them and that they can avoid individual mistakes over 180 minutes. There is certainly some work on the squad that needs to be done, however, that doesn’t mean the season has been a failure, and Bayern can show that by winning a Domestic Double (Treble if you count the Supercup).

In order to do that, they will need to be on their game until the final match of the season, including the anticipated cup final in Köln against Werder Bremen. Bremen managed to overcome Hamburg in the other Semi-Final on Sunday in front of a 57,000 strong crowd, and will be looking to cause an upset on May 1st. Bayern’s final game before the international break is at home to Leverkusen, on Sunday 30th March.