The unassuming one who makes the difference: How title collector Momoko Tanikawa is shaping FCB's game

SheBelieves Cup winner, gold at the Asian Games, top scorer at the U17 World Cup. And then there are the titles at club level: Bundesliga, DFB Cup and Supercup winner, as well as success at the World Sevens Football in Portugal. Not to mention the league title with Rosengård in the 2023/24 season.

Momoko Tanikawa's silverware collection is a sight to behold: Cups, medals, memorabilia from games all over the world. The 20-year-old Japan international, affectionately known by everyone as Momo, is supposedly still in the embryonic stages of her career, and yet her list of successes already reads like that of a player who has been at home in top-level football for many years. Two more trophies have been added recently. The trophy cabinet isn't going to get any emptier. Quite the opposite.

Quiet words, great deeds

First off, there's the triumph at the AFC Women's Asian Cup with Japan. For her, "the greatest success so far" with the national team, and yet she talks about it in the way she talks about everything: quietly, reservedly, almost cautiously. "The most important thing is that we won as a team in Sydney. The title makes me incredibly happy and proud," she says. 

🏆 Tanikawa was named ‘Player of the Match’ in the quarter-final first leg against Manchester United:

And then, last week, a trophy of a different kind: for the second time this season, she was voted ‘Player of the Match’ in the premier club competition in European women’s football - in the clash against Manchester United at the Theatre of Dreams. And that despite jet lag and barely any time to recover after winning the title in Australia a few days earlier; just four days had passed between the two matches. She left her mark on the game with an assist and the winner in the 84th minute. Another award, another piece of silverware for the trophy cabinet. And, above all, further proof of how seriously this young player has long since had to be taken. She'll be looking to prove her class once again on Wednesday evening when Bayern host United at the Allianz Arena for the second leg (Kick-off at 18.45 CEST).

The early days

Tanikawa's story starts far away from the big football stages, in Nagoya, the capital of the Japanese prefecture of Aichi. There, she grew up in an environment characterised by care and dedication. Her parents worked in the social sector, caring for the elderly, and two of her three sisters followed similar paths. One is a nurse, the other a carer. Momo grew up in an environment where people look out for each other. Perhaps this explains her level-headed manner, which means she always gets behind the team.

She started playing football at the age of three or four: "My enthusiasm was sparked by a football school." The defining moment came in 2011, when Japan became world champions - in Germany, of all places. A game on television, an image that burnt itself into her memory. "Maybe it was even the final," reflects Momo. From then on, one thing was certain for the now 20-year-old: One day I want to be standing right there.

The dream of Europe

She turned her sights on Europe early on. For Tanikawa, the continent wasn't something she just longed for, but a clear goal. Step by step, Momo worked her way up in Japan, each spell a building block on the way to making it in the big football world: first Nagoya FC Ladies, then NGU Nagoya FC Ladies, followed by Nagoya Grampus Miyoshi and Grampus Miyoshi, and finally the renowned JFA Academy Fukushima. Tanikawa gained experience wherever she went and grew with every step she took. Both as a player and as a character.

And Europe remained more than just a fantasy. "It had been my dream to play in Europe ever since I was little," says the creative player. The big stadiums, the different playing styles, the opportunity to compete with the best in the world. All of this exerted an enormous appeal on Momo from the very start.

When FC Bayern's interest became more concrete, she quickly made up her mind. "This club is so big, known all over the world, including back home in Japan, of course," says Tanikawa. After her move to the Bavarian capital in January 2024, she initially went back out on loan to Rosengård. There she continued to mature, made her mark and became top scorer in the Swedish Damallsvenskan. "It was a special time in which I was allowed to develop," she reflects. Momo learnt to be on her own, to take responsibility and to assert herself. A phase that shaped her and prepared her for what lay ahead in Munich.

Getting settled in Munich, at home in the team

At FC Bayern Women, of which she’s now been a member since the beginning of 2025, she found more than just a sporting home. "I've felt incredibly at home since I came here," she says. A seemingly trivial sentence at first glance, but one that reveals a lot: about an environment that has supported her, about people who have made her start as easy as it can be in a new country. "Every teammate is like a good friend to me, on and off the pitch," she adds.

🇯🇵 Tanikawa showed Ena Mahmutovic around her home country of Japan last year:

She has a particularly close relationship with Ena Mahmutovic. She's been a roommate, friend and companion from the very beginning. "Ena is a very funny and endearing person. I really enjoy spending time with her," says Momo with a smile. Mahmutovic visited her in Japan last year, got to know her family, her culture and the streets where Momo grew up. "It was so nice to show her my home, my family, but also our three dogs," says Tanikawa. And yet this isn't the only form of support she found in Munich from the very beginning.

Harder, to some extent a mentor

Because then there's Pernille Harder. A key figure in her development, someone who herself embarked on the path to top European football at an early age and who recognised something in Tanikawa from the very beginning. "I see a bit of myself in Momo. I also came to Germany at a young age and had these experiences. Momo is incredibly talented, she has a promising future ahead of her," says Harder.

Tanikawa appreciates this closeness. "Pi [Pernille] has looked after me since I arrived here. She's a very good person. I learn a lot from her," says Momo. Europe's footballer of the year in 2018 and 2020 gives her advice, asks questions and listens. For a young player like Tanikawa, that's priceless. And this closeness doesn't end at the door to the dressing room. The two also spend time together off the pitch. "We cooked gyoza together recently," Momo says with a laugh. An evening spent together and certainly a reflection of how much Harder has long since become something of a mentor to her.

Football: a puzzle to be solved

When Tanikawa talks about her game, she does so with clarity. She talks about spaces, possibilities that need to be recognised. With every touch of the ball, she consciously asks herself questions: "Where's the free space? Where's the chance to finish?" For her, football is a bit like a puzzle that needs to be solved. Time and again, in every attack, in every transition situation. Her role models reflect that perfectly: Kevin De Bruyne, Andrés Iniesta and Harry Kane. Players who read the game, not just play it.

Between the floodlights & expectations

Tanikawa and her team now head into the second leg against Manchester United on Wednesday evening in front of more than 20,000 spectators under the floodlights at the Allianz Arena. The 3-2 win from the first leg is certainly an advantage, also thanks to Momo's impact. But she remains sober: "We want to win. But we know exactly how difficult it will be." She's aware of what to expect from the Red Devils: powerful opponents with high individual quality in attack, with players like Jess Park and Ella Toone, who can create danger in just a few moments.

Momo knows that expectations are growing and that people are watching her. And yet her focus is clear: "We want to reach the semi-finals. The most important thing for us is to win the game with our fans at the Allianz Arena." And who knows, maybe another small trophy will come along on Wednesday evening. Momo will definitely do everything to make it happen.

🏟️✨ 20,000 tickets have already been sold for the Champions League clash between FC Bayern Women and Manchester United at the Allianz Arena – click here to secure your tickets for Wednesday evening now! 

🏟️ A look back at our previous matches at the Allianz Arena: