It's a battle of league leaders on Matchday 1 of the UEFA Women's Champions League as FC Bayern Women begin the new European season at home to AS Roma on Wednesday evening. Kick-off is at 18:45 CET at the FC Bayern Campus. The Group C clash between the two reigning champions in their respective leagues is available to watch via a free live stream from DAZN on YouTube. State of play, pre-match quotes and team news – it's all in the preview.
The state of play
FCB Women have played seven games in the league and one in the DFB Cup so far in the 2023/24 season, and are yet to lose. Last time out, head coach Alexander Straus' side claimed a 2-0 win over bottom-of-the-table MSV Duisburg, defending the top spot they'd earned through the 2-1 victory over VfL Wolfsburg the previous weekend. Now the Munich girls begin this year's Champions League campaign with the match against Roma on Wednesday evening.
The facts ahead of the meeting:
The opponents: AS Roma
Roma are the first Italian opponents Bayern have ever faced in the Women's Champions League, but there are some familiar faces in head coach Alessandro Spugna's squad with ex-Bayern trio Tinja-Riikka Korpela, Laura Feiersinger and Saki Kumagai. The latter only joined the Italians in the summer having celebrated the championship with FCB Women.
Like FCB, the Rome side are currently first in their domestic league. In fact, with 21 points from seven games, they've made a perfect start to the season. Roma won the Serie A Femminile last term with 48 points. The Italians beat Ukrainian outfit Vorskla Poltava comfortably 9-1 on aggregate in Champions League qualifying to reach the group stage.
In the only previous meeting between Bayern and Roma at the AMOS Women's French Cup 2021, FCB Women won 4-0 thanks to a brace from Klara Bühl and goals from Lea Schüller and former player Viviane Asseyi.
The team news
Straus is still without long-term absentees Pernille Harder (knee), Carolin Simon, Weronika Zawistowska (both cruciate ligament) and Cécilía Rán Rúnarsdóttir (dislocated kneecap), but Lina Magull returns to the squad after her muscle injury. Jovana Damnjanović, who had to come off with a knock in the first half against Duisburg, is also available.
Lina Magull is back in the FCB Women squad against Roma.
Viggósdóttir: Expecting a tight game
Alexander Straus: "We know that Roma are a good team. They have players who possess a lot of quality. In general, the Italian league is growing continually. Roma have developed very well in the last few years and they crowned last season with the league title. They've been very strong so far in this campaign as well."
Glódís Viggósdóttir: "Roma proved their class last season in both the Italian league and in Europe. We're expecting a tight game; we'll need to produce a good performance on the night. They have a lot of speed in their play and especially dangerous on the counter."
Watch the pre-match press conference in full:
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