Wolsfburg overwhelm Glasgow at the Reale Arena and will be Barça’s rival in the semifinals

Anoeta presented his best clothes to receive the eight best women’s clubs in Europe, although his best suit was missing: the fans. Nobody wanted to miss the appointment. Not even the rain, which made an appearance in an ostensible way at 6:00 p.m. in the afternoon when the ball began to roll in the Reale Arena. The amaratarra stadium welcomed Glasgow and Wolfsburg at Champions League first game disputed in the capital of Gipuzkoa.

What should have been a football party -not every day a final phase of the Women’s Champions is hosted-, turned into a cold and soulless environment, and not only because of the weather factor. The applause and shouts gave way to minutes of silence in memory of the people who died from the coronavirus pandemic and to anti-racist demands – the 22 protagonists dropped one of their knees to the ground during the first 30 seconds of the meeting in protest.

Be that as it may, Wolfsburg did not cause surprise and clearly prevailed about a Glasgow that at no time put a Teutonic team in trouble that wants to go from being the eternal contender to achieve, once again, a European scepter that Lyon holds with an iron fist for the last four consecutive seasons. This Friday, at first, he presented his clear candidacy for the trophy.

The climatological downpour that hit the territory throughout the day soon became a sporting event for Glasgow. And it is that, unlike what happens on other occasions, these ‘wolves’ do not have sheepskin and each claw becomes practically definitive. The leader of the pack, Pernille Harder, was in charge of showing the way to her companions at a quarter of an hour of play. Diagonal from the right, wall with Popp and a strong and low shot to put the first of the afternoon.

Each center to the area of ​​the Scots, who tried to bail water as they could, became a real torture. With little time to react, the disadvantage was already double. Engen put the second at the exit of a corner after finishing a cross from the right in the small area of ​​Alexander. The Cinderella of this Final to Eight, accustomed to walking freely in the domestic championship, found herself face to face again with a European reality that is far from the one she experiences every week in Scotland.

Those of Stephan Lerch managed at will the rhythm of the match against a Scottish team barely set foot in the vicinity of Abt. The German team was not going to settle for that, they wanted to do their homework before reaching the break. Said and done. Two Teutonic goals before reaching the intermission left the game seen for the sentence and without possibility of reaction for Scott Booth’s. First Eugen, after a very long combinatorial play in which the ball passed by almost all the players, and then Harder, with a strong shot from the front, dealt an almost fatal stab at the heart of Glasgow, which was dying the locker room tunnel.

Swimming and putting clothes away

With the tie on track in first 45 minutes, the German coach began to rest his players thinking about the semifinal next Tuesday where, without a doubt, they will meet a tougher obstacle, Barça in Anoeta. As they say, swim and put your clothes away. However, the first occasion came from the Scottish side, with a shot from the front by Freda that brushed the post. A mere mirage.

Harder, who does not understand breaks, completed his magnificent performance with two more goals to sign a so many poker. Nine targets for the Danish forward in this edition of the Champions League, almost nothing. Earlier, her Glasgow counterpart Freda gave her team some hope by scoring one of the goals, without a doubt, of the tournament. Prize for her effort although it did not serve much.

Rauch and two own goals ended up closing a win that shows the overwhelming difference that exists today between the Scottish and German league. A declaration of intent from a Wolfsburg that has come to San Sebastián to fill its showcase with the third ‘orejona’ in its history.