Last-minute Schüller: FCB Women down Juventus

• Schüller rewards Bayern
• FCB celebrate first win in the UWCL league phase
• At home against Köln this weekend

An impressive performance from FC Bayern Women! After a hard-fought match, the reigning double winners beat Juventus 2-1 (1-1) on Thursday evening. With president Herbert Hainer and board member for sport Max Eberl looking on, Pernille Harder put the Munich side ahead in the 11th minute. Juventus equalised just six minutes later through Eva Schatzer (17'). Bayern pressed for the lead in the second half and Lea Schüller finally rewarded her side with the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Barcala: "Deserved to get the goal at the end!"

“We should have had a two-goal lead at the break; we were clearly dominant and had good chances. But if you're not consistent, one chance is often enough for the opposition to score. After the break, we dropped the intensity and rhythm a little and gave the ball away too often. Fortunately, we were able to gather ourselves in the final quarter, increase the tempo and put the pressure on. We created chances in the final few minutes and deserved to get the goal at the end.”

Grohs: "We battled until the end!"

"It was a real slog. We failed to convert our dominance into goals, especially in the first half when we should have had a clearer lead. It became more difficult in the second half because our opponents were better organised and found good solutions. Nevertheless, we ultimately deserved the win. We never gave up, made the most of every minute and battled to the end."

Fiercely contested first half

The Reds started the match the better side and had more possession in the early stages. After a lay-off from Klara Bühl, Harder narrowly missed opening the scoring from close range (8'). Three minutes later, however, she made up for it: Bühl crossed again and Harder guided a header into the near corner to give Bayern the deserved lead. The Munich women continued to look dangerous, with Momoko Tanikawa heading a Bühl cross onto the crossbar in the 15th minute. However, the Italians quickly hit back after the home side's lead: after a foul in the FCB half, Eva Schatzer equalised from a free-kick (17'). Despite the equaliser, Barcala's team continued to dominate the game. Harder narrowly missed the target with a long-range effort from a central position in the 24th minute, while Georgia Stanway hit the crossbar again shortly before the break (44').

Schüller with the knockout blow

After the break, as they had done in the first half, Bayern showed more presence than the Italians, who just sat deep. However, the Old Lady 's defence stood firm and closed down the spaces. The hosts created the next good opportunity in the 52nd minute: After a great piece of link-up play in Juve's half, Giulia Gwinn played a pefect cross to Bühl, who struck the ball just left of the target from very close range. The match remained a tightly contested affair. José Barcala's side increasingly spread the game out wide, but only rarely found gaps in the Juve defence. Bayern were finally rewarded in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Schüller flicked Harder's header past Juve keeper Peyraud-Magnin to snatch a much-celebrated winner.

At home against Köln

After their first home game in the Champions League, the reigning double winners continue their Bundesliga campaign on Sunday afternoon. FC Bayern host 1. FC Köln at 16:00 CEST. After the upcoming international matches, the Munich side's next home game will be against SGS Essen on 1 November.