The full-time whistle had long blown in the 3-0 win over Vålerenga late on Wednesday night, but none of the FC Bayern Women players wanted to leave the pitch yet. The team stayed close together, arms around each other, eyes gazed – not on the pitch but on a few smartphones.
Over in Enschede in the match between Twente and Real Madrid, they were still playing in stoppage time. A single goal could determine whether this evening would become a nice win in the UEFA Women’s Champions League or a European milestone. The air crackled above the Campus stadium. It erupted in collective cheers: final whistle in Enschede. A draw.
It meant that Bayern finished fourth in the league phase and qualified automatically for the quarter-finals. Everything broke out of the team at that moment: hugs, celebrations, relief. From the stands, chants of “Super Bayern! Super Bayern! Hey! Hey!” rang out. The players sang along and jumped in unison. “A magnificent day,” beamed director Bianca “Jay” Rech.
It was in this moment that it became clear how far this side have come in just a few months.
Their own victory was a requirement and at the same time a statement. Momoko Tanikawa opened the scoring after just two minutes, Stine Ballisager doubled the lead against her former club nine minutes later and Pernille Harder sealed it in the 59th minute with her 50th competitive goal in a Bayern shirt. Three goals that reflected the alert, concentrated and purposeful performance from the German champions.
Structured, controlled and clear
And yet it was less the result and more the manner in which Bayern are playing now that stood out. Although they could’ve scored one or two more goals, the team looked structured, controlled and clear.
There was forward movement in the build-up play, the full-backs bravely pushed up, there were constantly triangles in the middle, through which Bayern could adjust the tempo. Tanikawa personified this new self-image more than most: early in the pressing, aggressive in the counter-pressing and creative in the final third. Harder dropped in between the lines, Linda Dallmann was a bundle of energy on the wing while Klara Bühl’s pace and width repeatedly opened up spaces. It was a display that demonstrated: this team don’t just fight now, but are maturing tactically, individually and collectively.
“The most important thing is we have a team that are capable of dominating a match and creating chances,” highlighted coach José Barcala. “I’m proud of the team and the staff behind them.”
The league phase had started with one of the most bitter European experiences of recent times for Bayern, the 7-1 loss to Barcelona – a start that raised many questions. Now that seems like the start of a development that has brought the team closer together.
Barcala lauds ‘character’
Barcala summarised this journey: “We’ve shown character throughout and grown from match to match. The expectations at this club are high and we have a fantastic team. We’re all going in the right direction together. We can achieve great things this season but we have to stay humble.”
The message was clear: this is a team who don’t complain but learn. The game against Barcelona and also the 2-2 draw against Atlético left marks, but they were points of reference rather than wounds.
Dallmann assessed it matter-of-factly but optimistically: “Not everything has gone right in the league phase but you can see how we’ve steadily found ourselves as a team. Maybe we needed that to learn.” It’s this realism, paired with the confidence that’s grown in the squad.
Tanikawa, the official Player of the Match and symbol of this positive development, also expressed a mix of happiness and ambition: “We’ve earned our place in the quarter-finals but it’s not over yet. We want to keep winning!” Her words were like a promise but also a look ahead: this team want more than just a good chapter – they want to write a success story.
For Bayern, it was yet another moment that demonstrated the depth of this team. Leading players deliver, young talents grow, and the balance is just right.
Great emotional significance
And so Bayern end this league phase where they wanted to be after a long year: stable, matured and with a clear idea of how much more is possible this season. Automatic qualification for the quarter-finals is important from a sporting point of view, but even more significant emotionally. It’s the confirmation that this team have had to go through some tough moments in order to perhaps be able to move forward more easily.
For now, they have a while until their next European outing. The quarter-final first leg will be played on 24/25 March, with the return leg a week later. FCB finish 2025 away to fifth-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga on Monday (18:00 CET. “We’ve had a very assured first half of the season and we’ve come to understand more and more. It’s important that we top it off in Leverkusen,” asserted Dallmann.
Good starting position for 2026
In any case, the double winners will spend the winter break at the top of the table. They go into Matchday 14 with a six-point lead over closest rivals VfL Wolfsburg (table). In the DFB Cup, they’re also in the quarter-finals, where Hamburger SV await on 11 March. The prospects are there; Bayern have worked hard to achieve them. And the journey they are on has only just really picked up speed.
The report of the match against Vålerenga:
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