Despite double red: Bayern women keep their chance of reaching the Champions League final | OneFootball

FC Bayern’s women had one of the biggest tasks possible in world soccer on Saturday when they faced FC Barcelona at home in the semi-finals of the Champions League

Coach Jose Barcala’s team wanted to show in this match, which was played in the Allianz Arena and accordingly attracted a lot of attention, that they can keep up with the absolute best in the world

The women of Barcelona belong to the absolute crème de la crème, but the Bundesliga has caught up again, as the performances and results this season have shown quite impressively

FCB women fall behind early

Barcelona went into this game with players such as Ona Batlle, Alexia Putellas, Ewa Pajor and Claudia Pina and it was clear from the outset that the visiting team had a lot of confidence. They have been champions in their domestic league for a long time now, having picked up 75 points from 26 games – out of a possible 78. The start was correspondingly dominant, the attacks looked very structured and the ball security was there

Ewa Pajor took advantage of this early on to give Barcelona the lead, scoring within the first ten minutes. After around 20 minutes, the Bayern women’s pressing gradually began to work better. For example, Putellas also made an unfortunate bad pass. These were signs that encouraged Bayern to increase the tempo. However, there were no big chances for Bayern. At least the Barcala team were able to ensure that Barcelona were unable to generate any major phases of pressure until the break

photo: Getty Images

Klett in the spotlight

Bayern then had a great chance shortly before the break, but Franziska Kett failed to beat Cata Coll in the Spanish goal. Immediately after half-time, Barcelona had a great chance to double their lead, but the post saved them. The game became more open, Bayern were more daring and were rewarded with the equaliser after 68 minutes through Kett, who played a very good game. Klara Bühl and Pernille Harder were instrumental in the build-up

Kett continued to be the center of attention. She was shown the red card after apparently pulling the hair of her opponent. Coach Barcala did not agree with this at all, stormed onto the pitch and was also shown the red card. After that, the game became a little wilder, which Barcelona did not find ideal because there was no longer any control. It became dangerous on both sides. In the end, it remained 1:1, and a lot is still possible in the second leg in Barcelona.