Bayern Munich’s footballers continued their unstoppable march towards successfully defending their title with a statement victory against long-term rivals VfL Wolfsburg. The leaders defeated their pursuers from Lower Saxony 4-0 (0-0) in the Bundesliga summit and expanded their lead to seven points.
“I’ve never won in Wolfsburg before, now 4-0 with such a performance, that’s outstanding,” goal scorer Lea Schüller cheered on ARD and confirmed a preliminary decision in the title fight: “If we don’t act stupid now, it should be easy for us “The former Wolfsburg player Pernille Harder (48th), the national players Klara Bühl (57th) and Schüller (76th) as well as Georgia Stanway (87th) provided the first Munich player in front of 24,437 fans in the VW Arena Victory in Wolfsburg for more than 15 years. Bayern have now been unbeaten in 34 league games across all seasons.
VfL, on the other hand, who had to do without DFB captain Alexandra Popp due to injury, can hardly have any hopes of winning the championship after their second defeat in a row. In the five remaining games, the cup winners are doomed to win and at the same time dependent on mistakes from their competitors. “We know that with a win we can put more pressure on and let Bayern feel our breath,” said VfL coach Tommy Stroot before the game. In contrast to Popp, top scorer Ewa Pajor reported fit again after knee problems just in time for the top game and was in the starting line-up, as was national player Lena Oberdorf, who caused a stir in February with her announced summer move to Bayern.
Despite his team’s comfortable starting position, FCB coach Alexander Straus had warned about the opponent: “They will attack a lot and want to have the ball, we are preparing for that.” In front of the eyes of interim national coach Horst Hrubesch and DFB sports director Nia However, Künzer managed the guests’ first dangerous advance, but national player Giulia Gwinn hit the crossbar (4th). Bayern had a little more of the game in the early stages, but Wolfsburg missed a huge chance to take the lead after a counterattack. Sveindis Jonsdottir got free in front of Bayern keeper Maria Luisa Grohs, but put the shot wide of the goal (13th).
Christian Otto, Wolfsburg Published/Updated: Recommendations: 8 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 8 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 13
Bitter for VfL: In the middle of the hosts’ pressure phase, Marina Hegering was left with a calf injury without any outside influence. Nuria Rabano came on for the defender in the 24th minute of the game. Both teams repeatedly had chances, but both sides lacked the final consequence. That changed after the break. During a counterattack, Bühl sent Harder towards the Wolfsburg goal with a long pass, and the Dane took the lead. A little later, assist provider Bühl was successful herself with a sharply taken corner, and Schüller made everything clear after Harder’s preparatory work.
