Lyon dismantled a heavily-rotated Bayern side.
Bayern Munich lost 2-0 at home to Olympique Lyonnais in the first leg of the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-finals. The Bavarians now have a mountain to climb in France.
Lyon were physically imposing
As match thread commentators noted, OL impressed with sheer stature on the pitch. The Ligue 1 leaders looked far tougher, far sharper, and far better conditioned than the Bavarians…and that stood out far more than any tactical battles that occurred.
In fact, for all that — and Lyon’s statistical dominance on the day, with 19 shots to Bayern’s 12 and 10 on target to Bayern’s one — Lyon smashed and grabbed their way to two goals.
On the first, Bayern defender Linda Sembrant attempted to find Pernille Harder over the top with a long ball, but despite the attacker’s clever movement the ball was nowhere near enough on target. After it was cut out, Lyon immediately tried the same trick, booting it forward…and this one did find an attacking player, albeit by way of Sembrandt’s hasty and mistimed touch. Tabitha Chawinga drove towards goal and finished with aplomb past Mala Grohs.
Bayern’s newly-extended star attacker, Klara Bühl, was unable to muster the same. Bühl looked match fatigued, and she probably is, scuffing a chance nearly as good as Chawinga’s and generally lacking the connection and danger she is known for.
Lyon’s second goal? Another long ball pinged from deep, finding the head of striker Melchie Dumornay perfectly. Dumornay is all of 5’3, but you wouldn’t know it the way she received right in front of Sembrant (5’9) and Magdalena Eriksson (5’8) like a lethal target striker. The Haitian international nodded it on for Lindsey Heaps (neé Horan, of the USWNT), who squared back for her to take her shot on in stride and bag Lyon’s second.
Lyon controlled the game, but this wasn’t a patient, probing picking apart of a stubborn Bayern defense so much as an impressively assembled squad willing their way to win over an opponent that wasn’t going to offer much threat of their own.
Bayern’s rotation
Bayern coach Alexander Straus made four outfield changes since the 3-1 win over Wolfsburg on Friday, when Pernille Harder, playing as the No. 9, scored a brace and Bayern dominated. It was a degree of rotation probably necessitated by how much Bayern play their starters, but the changes did not look good for rhythm. And in a way, it’s an issue of chickens coming home to roost — lack of rotation in earlier games paving the way to both the effects of shake-up and fatigue in a huge UWCL quarters match.
Then again, Bayern has been in an absolute dogfight on three fronts and it is not easy to have the horses for all three. Eintracht Frankfurt slipped up in the league on Monday and the Bavarians downed Wolfsburg in the DFB-Pokal on Friday, so there is breathing room…but not a lot of it.
A return for Mala Grohs!
One of the major storylines of the day was the return to the lineup of keeper Mala Grohs, who was only diagnosed with and underwent treatment for cancer last fall.
Ena Mahmutovic had played impressively in her place, but Grohs got the nod and came up big — with sharp saves in open play that spared Bayern from getting steamrolled, and a penalty save as well on an effort from Heaps. Feel-good moments from a feel-bad result.
Still alive — but only just
At 0-2 down, Bayern is not out of this…but it hurts that this result happened at home. And the Bavarians really did not show enough life to hope for a turnaround next Wednesday in Lyon.
But you lose 100% of the games you don’t try and win. So let’s go Bayern!
Highlights below:
