FCB Women lose 2-0 at rivals Wolfsburg

It was a disappointing evening for FC Bayern Women as they went down 2-0 at last season's runners-up VfL Wolfsburg in a close-fought contest on Saturday. It means the end of the impressive unbeaten run of 44 games in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. Alexander Straus' side trailed from the fifth minute at the Volkswagen Arena after Vivien Endemann's early goal. Substitute Lineth Beerensteyn made it 2-0 in the second half.

Despite the defeat, Bayern still lead the table after the first six matches with 15 points, followed by Bayer 04 Leverkusen (14), Eintracht Frankfurt (13) - who play on Monday - and Wolfsburg (13) in second, third and fourth.

Straus: 'We'll bounce back quickly'

"Even though the run of 44 games has ended today, I'm extremely proud of my team," said Straus after the match. "Wolfsburg scored two goals and we didn't, it's as simple as that. I think we were the better team in many statistics but the ball just didn't want to go in today. However, we're still in a good position in the league and I'm confident we'll bounce back quickly."

Bühl: 'Imagined it differently'

"Obviously we imagined the game here differently and wanted to come away with a different result," commented Klara Bühl. "The ball just wouldn't go in today and the goals we conceded were also a bit unlucky. We need to quickly draw a line under it now and focus on the upcoming game in the Champions League."

Schüller and Sembrant start

Straus made two changes from the team that started in the thrilling 5-2 victory over Arsenal in the UEFA Women's Champions League in midweek. Linda Sembrandt came in for Carolin Simon in the defence, while Lea Schüller started in place of Sydney Lohmann.

Female empowerment and breast cancer awareness

Bayern walked out for the crunch clash between the two dominant teams in German women's football wearing a special kit. The jersey, which not only stands for female empowerment but also carries a second crucial message during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, was designed jointly by adidas and LeGer by Lena Gercke.

Frustrating first half

In front of a crowd of 17,152, the home side made the better start and scored after just five minutes, when Endemann intercepted a loose back-pass from Jovana Damnjanović, advanced into the penalty area and curled the ball past Maria Luisa Grohs. After that it developed into a hard-fought battle with lots of tackles. In the 24th minute, FCB suffered the next setback when Damnjanović came off worse in a collision with Marina Hegering and had to be taken off, with Linda Dallmann coming on. The visitors grew into the game as time went on and the best chance for an equaliser fell to Pernille Harder, who found herself one-on-one against VfL goalkeeper Merle Frohms after a neat flick from Schüller but narrowly missed the target. Two minutes before half-time, Schüller was then denied by Frohms from a corner.

Battling Bayern unable to come back

It remained a physical battle after the restart, but there was little in the way of goalmouth action. While Bayern lacked the luck required in attack, the She-Wolves netted the crucial second goal. When the visitors failed to clear the ball from a corner, ex-Munich player Beerensteyn (68') took advantage to make it 2-0 three minutes after coming on. Grohs had to make a strong save to prevent Alexandra Popp from making it 3-0 just a minute later. The German champions did create some threatening situations in the closing stages but ultimately had to admit defeat.

From Turin to Leverkusen

Another busy week lies ahead for Straus' side, starting with the away match at Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday 16 October (18:45 CEST). Four days later, on Sunday 20 October, Bayern travel to Leverkusen on Sunday 20 October (18:30 CEST) before the international break.