Can they do it? Bayern Women fighting for semi-final spot in Lyon

It’s one of those infamous ‘do-or-die’ matches: on Wedesnday evening, FC Bayern Women will battle it out with Olympique Lyon for a place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. After the 2-0 defeat in the first meeting, head coach Alexander Straus’ side need to pull off a coup in the second leg of the quarter-final in southeast France against the record winners of the competition. Kick-off at the Groupama Stadium is at 18:45 CET. The state of play, pre-match quotes and team news – it’s all in the preview.

The state of play

Bayern Women were unbeaten in the first five matches of the Champions League group stage, collecting 13 points, until they lost at Arsenal in the final group match. That meant Straus’ side finished second in the group to set up the quarter-final against Lyon.

Despite the 2-0 loss in the first leg, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Bayern have never before suffered three consecutive defeats in the UWCL, with their two previous runs of back-to-back defeats (2017 and 2019) both followed by a win.

FCB Women are also unbeaten on their last two visits to France. After drawing at Paris Saint-Germain in the 2021/22 quarter-final second leg, the defending German champions won 1-0 in Paris in the group stage of last season’s competition.

The match report of the first leg against Lyon:

The opponents: Olympique Lyon

French champions Lyon have won all seven of their games so far in the current Champions League campaign. In the group stage, Joe Montemurro’s side finished comfortably ahead of Galatasaray, Wolfsburg and Roma with a goal difference of 19-1. In last week’s first leg in Munich, the eight-time winners registered a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Tabitha Chawinga and Melchie Dumornay.

OL were successful in the league at the weekend, too. The team of former Munich player Sara Däbritz thrashed RC Saint-Étienne 5-0 in the Division 1 Féminine, underlining their strong form. They’re well clear at the top of the table with 17 wins from 18 matches.

The team news

Head coach Alexander Straus will again be without long-term absentees Lena Oberdorf (knee ligaments), Katharina Naschenweng (knee joint) and Georgia Stanway (knee ligaments) in France. Captain Glódís Viggósdóttir and Giulia Gwinn are fit again, though.

Pre-match quote

Linda Dallmann: “Lyon have the highest individual quality in Europe in their squad, together with FC Barcelona. We know we need to score a goal early to still have a chance, and that’s our clear gameplan. We need goal threat and courage from the start. We saw in the cup match against Hoffenheim what’s possible in spite of a 2-0 deficit if you believe. We want to use that as an example.”

FC Bayern extended the contract of Carolin Simon recently: