Last home game of the year: FCB Women aiming to keep their chances of progressing directly to the quarter-finals alive

One last game at home in 2025! FC Bayern Women wrap up the league phase of the UEFA Women's Champions League by hosting Vålerenga. In front of a home crowd on Wednesday evening (get your tickets now!), the Munich side will be looking to pick up the next three points to keep their chances of qualifying directly for the quarter-finals of Europe's premier women's club competition alive. Kick-off on Champions League Matchday 6 is at 21:00 CET at the FC Bayern Campus.

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The Munich women had to settle for a 2-2 draw in their latest Champions League match against Atlético Madrid. After falling behind early on due to a penalty following a hand ball, Pernille Harder managed to turn the game around with a brace in the second half. However, the hosts equalised just before the final whistle. In the Bundesliga, Bayern put in an impressive performance in their last home league game of the year on Sunday, thrashing Hamburger SV 6-0. Giulia Gwinn, Georgia Stanway and Klara Bühl all scored in the first half. After the break, a Hamburg own goal and strikes from Harder and Lea Schüller wrapped up the win.

FC Bayern Women are in sixth place in the UWCL group stage with 10 points, just three points behind leaders Barcelona. Qualification for the knockout stage was already assured after the win against Paris Saint-Germain. To progress straight to the quarter-finals and skip the play-offs though, the Munich side must win on Wednesday evening and are also dependent on the other teams’ results.

🗞️ Stine Ballisager has a very special match ahead of her as she faces her former club:

The opponents: Vålerenga

For Vålerenga, the league season already ended in mid-November. After celebrating winning the championship last year, Nils Lexerød's side missed out on the 2025 title, finishing seven points behind champions SK Brann.

After successfully qualifying, Vålerenga started the league phase of the UEFA Women's Champions League with two defeats against Manchester United and Wolfsburg. Then they achieved something historic: their 1-0 triumph over Roma was their first ever victory in Europe's premier women's club competition. This was followed by a 2-2 draw against St. Pölten, before the Norwegians were defeated in the remaining three matches, most recently losing 1-0 to Paris FC.

So far, FC Bayern Women have only faced Vålerenga twice – in the group stage last season. The reigning double winners won the first leg 3-0, while the return leg in Oslo ended 1-1.

Team news

Head coach José Barcala will still be without long-term injurees Sarah Zadrazil (cruciate ligament rupture) and Lena Oberdorf (cruciate ligament rupture) for the match against Vålerenga. Mala Grohs, who twisted her ankle in training this week, will also miss the clash with the Norwegians.

Pre-match quotes

José Barcala: "Valerenga play in a very organised and compact manner, with a back five and four players in front of them. It's difficult to find space between the lines. We'll need to stay patient and play our positional game at a high tempo. We'll need to be particularly wary of their dangerous counter-attacking play."

Klara Bühl: "Our mindset for tomorrow is clear: we want to win and pick up all three points at home. At the weekend, we showed what we're capable of as a team, what qualities we have and how much enjoyment we get out of playing. That's exactly what we want to take into the game again tomorrow. It's always helpful when you've already played against a team, because it gives you a better impression of their style of play, strengths and possible weaknesses. The key will be to play our game and consistently take advantage of the chances that come our way."

Till 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣7️⃣ – Sarah Zadrazil has agreed a contract extension with FC Bayern: