Bühl, Harder & Tanikawa: What Bayern's Ballon d'Or results tell us

On an evening like this, even a theatre feels a bit like a stadium. At the London Palladium, the Ballon d’Or shone in the spotlight; in the stands sat the names that have defined the season. The prestigious awards ceremony was celebrating its 70th edition, held in London for the first time – also as a tribute to Sir Stanley Matthews, the first winner in 1956. Among the top 30 on the shortlist were three names from Munich: Pernille Harder, Klara Bühl and Momoko Tanikawa, who finished in 7th, 12th and 23rd place respectively behind winner Alexia Putellas. FC Bayern Women were also up for Team of the Year. That award ended up going to Champions League winners Barcelona.

Three players from one club on one shortlist: that is recognition for each individual – and a sign of the quality of the team. Back in 2024, three Munich women – Glódís Viggósdóttir, Lea Schüller and Giulia Gwinn – were nominated. What was already an honour back then has now been confirmed: the Munich women are among the best teams in European football. For FC Bayern Women, it was an evening in London that demonstrated just how much has been achieved at FCB in recent years.

Last season, Pernille Harder always seemed to pop up just when a match was crying out for a decisive moment: with clever runs, she tied up defenders, created space and was in just the right place when a finish was required. In the Bundesliga, she scored 16 times and, alongside Selina Cerci, finished second in the top scorer rankings – just one goal short of the top spot. She scored a further eight goals in the premier club competition in European women’s football; the two-time UEFA Women's Player of the Year was also named in the UEFA Team of the Season. Across all competitions, she scored 28 goals, more than any other Bayern player.

Yet Harder’s value could not be reduced to goals alone: she linked up attacks and made her presence felt even without the ball. Bianca Rech quite rightly calls her a “quiet leader. Just how much was down to that composure was evident, for instance, in the first leg of the quarter-final in Manchester, when Harder scored twice in the 3–2 win over United – with ease and clinical precision. But even her instinct as a goalscorer needs teammates who can recognise the decisive moment and get the ball to her – at Old Trafford, following Harder’s brace, a young Momoko Tanikawa came into her own.

In the 2025/26 season, Klara Bühl dominated the left wing like few others: she accelerated, tied up opponents and often found the decisive pass or finish. In the 3–2 win against the then Champions League winners Arsenal, for example, she set up all three Bayern goals after they had fallen 2–0 behind. With eight assists, she was the competition’s top provider and played a key role in her team’s progression to the semi-finals. She also set new standards on the domestic stage in the Bundesliga: 14 assists was the league’s best tally, and she also scored seven goals. 21 direct goal contributions put her third in the top scorer rankings.

Her stats reflect her instinct for space and her understanding of her teammates: she didn’t simply deliver crosses, but recognised gaps and played the decisive pass - often before others even became aware of it. “She’s capable of deciding matches,” says FC Bayern Women director Bianca Rech of the 25-year-old. National team coach Christian Wück recently praised her two-footed ability: “I don’t know of any footballer – not a single male footballer – who is as two-footed as she is.” But for an open space to lead to success, you also need someone to occupy it at the right moment. A certain Danish player in Bayern colours often seemed to be already running into the space before the gap was even apparent.

Tanikawa generally responds to pressure with exquisite technique rather than haste, and always seems to have a split second more time on the ball than others. For Bayern, she scored eight Bundesliga and two DFB Cup goals; across all competitions, she racked up 13 goals and six assists. Her most memorable European performance, however, began on the bench in Manchester: after the Red Devils had twice equalised, the creative midfielder helped set up an attack and scored the winner in the 84th minute to make it 3–2. Just a few days earlier, the now 21-year-old had won the AFC Asian Cup with Japan – in a tight final against Australia, a single goal made the difference. Jet lag? For her, it was clearly just a brief stopover: she shook it off with ease.

Coach José Barcala has repeatedly praised her composure on the ball: “Momoko is an exceptional player. She feels so composed in possession, even under pressure.” Tanikawa’s goal at the Theatre of Dreams was one of last season’s special moments – and yet it was more than that: a substitute decided the match because her team had created the space for her to do so.

Three players – and a team who made history

Bühl gave the game the boost it needed and delivered the decisive pass; Harder found the space and knew when to turn it into a goal; Tanikawa found a solution even in the tightest of situations. Together, they shaped Bayern’s most successful season in the club’s history: 24 Bundesliga wins, two draws and zero defeats. Added to that were victory in the DFB Cup without conceding a single goal, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Without these three, that season would not have been the same – yet their class shone through in their interplay with the whole team: the defence closed down spaces, teammates anticipated runs, and the squad gave Barcala the flexibility to respond to pressure and setbacks. “I’m so proud of these players. It’s a privilege to work here,” the coach said at the end of the season. It was fitting, then, that the Munich side were nominated for Team of the Year and had no less than three players – Bühl, Harder and Tanikawa – on the shortlist.

🎟️ Get your tickets for FC Bayern Women vs. Real Madrid here! You can apply for tickets for the match against Barcelona here!

We spoke to Melanie Leupolz ahead of Wednesday's Champions League game against Real Madrid: