The highly-anticipated final day of 2023/24 UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage fixtures proved to be cinematic for Group C, as all teams were fighting the clock to put their name into the hat for a spot in the quarterfinals.
FC Bayern München have found themselves in questionable form leading up to the final fixture, struggling to find their footing as the group stages progressed. A victory was imperative for the home side as they hosted PSG at FC Bayern Campus. As for the visitors, only a draw was necessary to ensure their progression into the competitions advancing stages.
BAY: Grohs; Gwinn, Viggósdóttir, Hansen, Naschenweng, Zadrazil, Stanway, Lohmann, Harder, Bühl, Schüller
PSG: Picaud; Hunt, Le Guilly, De Almeida, Baltimore, Groenen, Bachmann, Gehoor, Karchaoui, Chawinga, Katoto
All kicked off in Munich, with both sides hungry to scrape their respective required points to secure themselves a position in the quarterfinal stages of Europe’s elite competition.
It was Pernille Harder who made Bayern’s first advance, storming the central areas with conviction. Despite her best efforts from the penalty area, her strike was fired wide of Constance Picaud’s goalposts.
Bayern continued to press their visitors with hunger, as Klara Bühl’s clever cut-back to space found the feet of an advancing Sydney Lohmann. Lohmann’s angled attempt was to no avail though, just flying wide of the intended target.
Sandy Baltimore began to cause significant issues for the Bayern last-line, as the French striker made her presence known along the field’s width. Despite her best efforts, her strike caused no significant problems for Maria Grohs in between the sticks.
The hosts contiuned to mount on the pressure, as a corner arrived in opportunistic fashion in attempt to break the stalemate. Glódís Viggósdóttir found herself on the end of the searching cross, before her deflection fell to the head of Giulia Gwinn in the midst of the scuffle. Gwinn made no mistake in sending her headed attempt into the top-left corner, giving Bayern the momentary lead.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe home side held the one goal lead heading in to half-time, securing themselves provisional qualification into the next stage of the competition. Lea Schüller found herself with an opportunity to double the advantage in the opening stages of the second half, however her headed attempt fell easily to an awaiting Picaud inside of the area.
It would be the visitors that would strike next, as a miscommunication at the back saw Tabitha Chawinga in an opportunistic position to draw things level in the 73rd minute. Making no mistake on the ball, Chawinga slotted home the equaliser in collected fashion.
Despite now dropping to third position in the group, the hosts refused to let their heads hang as they made their response clear just moments later. Bühl cleverly claimed the territory in the wide area, before sending a searching cross in to the heart of the 18-yard box. This time Lohmann would make no mistake, as she rose up and headed home Bayern’s second for the evening.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe clock ran down in high anticipation, as an Ajax goal in the concurrent match saw Paris Saint-Germain momentarily knocked out of the competition. The French side did not have to wallow in any sorts of sorrow for long though, as Baltimore once again made her presence known.
Evading her defender with precise footwork, Baltimore sent her shot into the awaiting scuffle. In what was truthful heartbreaking fashion for the German side, Baltimore’s strike found a deflection off the feet of a stagnant Georgia Stanway to send Grohs’ net rippling with just two minutes remaining on the clock.
Embed from Getty ImagesDespite a flurry of desperate late effort from pressing Bayern attack, the final whistle arrived in due course – with the fixture’s action closing up at two apiece in Munich.
The result means that Paris Saint-Germain solidify their position in the quarterfinal stages of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, as FC Bayern München see their European campaign draw to a devastating close.
