Once again on Tuesday evening, Lea Schüller proved she's a woman for important goals. With her fourth strike of this Champions League campaign, the Germany striker secured a 1-0 win for FC Bayern Women over Arsenal WFC. The winning goal not only earned Schüller the Player of the Match accolade, but also brought Bayern a step closer to the semi-finals of Europe's premier club competition.
13th consecutive win
In Bayern's 13th win in a row in all competitions, Schüller again impressed with her tireless determination and her killer instinct in front of goal. The 25-year-old was singled out for praise by head coach Alexander Straus, among others, after the match: "Lea is the match-winner. She has the potential to be one of the best strikers in the world. She asserted herself brilliantly for the goal." The scorer herself was also more than proud of her goal, but was already looking ahead to the return leg next week: "I'm very pleased. Going into the second leg with a 1-0 lead is certainly good. We now want to build on the first-half performance in London."
Every reason to celebrate: The Munich girls claimed an important win in the quarter-final first leg against Arsenal WFC.
As well as Schüller, who shone in attack together with Klara Bühl and Sydney Lohmann, the Bayern defence also proved to be dependable, led by Glódís Viggósdóttir. In front of 20,000 fans at the Allianz Arena, the Iceland international impressed at the back along with Saki Kumagai - who made a brilliant goal-line clearance - Maxi Rall and Tuva Hansen, ensuring the Bavarians go into next Wednesday's second leg in a good position.
Rock at the back: Glódís Viggósdóttir impressed in the Munich rearguard.
Arsenal-Wolfsburg-Arsenal
However, there's no rest for FCB Women before that. Another big showdown awaits them on Saturday, when VfL Wolfsburg visit the FC Bayern Campus in a potential Bundesliga title decider (17:55 CET). Just four days later, captain Lina Magull and Co then travel to London for the UWCL quarter-final second leg. Big challenges therefore lie ahead for Straus' side at national and European level, but with Schüller in prolific form and a strong defence, Bayern shouldn't be afraid of anyone.
Get your Lea Schüller jersey from our shop.
The reaction to the win over Arsenal:
Topics of this article