Tough exit for the Bavarians in the UWCL.
Bayern Munich fell 4-1 on the road at Lyon, 6-1 on aggregate in another crashing out of the UEFA Women’s Champions League on Wednesday.
It started positively enough. Bayern defended well enough for half an hour to allow Klara Bühl, after a sharp one-two played with Momoko Tanikawa, to drive into the Lyon box and slide a low finish into the far corner from an improbable angle. Bayern had about an hour to go with Big Game Klara showing up on the road and the deficit cut to just one goal. A succession of set piece attacks at the end of the half suggested the Bavarians were knocking on the door.
But after the break, everything fell apart. Melchie Dumornay was gifted an open header between two Bayern defenders not even one minute into the second half. Less than ten minutes later, a loose touch from Giulia Gwinn in her own box sent the ball right into the path of Kadidiatou Diani, who didn’t need asking twice.
All of a sudden it was 4-1 on aggregate, and any spirit Bayern brought to the game evaporated.
By the end, it was 4-1 in the game, too. And it did not finish very far away from 5-1.
As Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC showed, a 2-0 deficit in the first leg actually can be overcome — although the two English sides achieved their comebacks at home. Bayern showed they were just as capable of making a game of it and then simply fell apart to a strong Lyon side.
It’s a tough way to go out but there are no easy ways. Bayern remains in the hunt for a domestic double, though, and have fantastic chances. In Europe, it will be a matter of regrouping and refocusing, because the UWCL record of recent years has turned out to be in the category of demons to shake.
Onto next year!
