Wolfsburg lose to Chelsea and have to go to the play-offs

AUDIO: VfL women miss direct quarter-finals in the premier class (1 min)

by Florian Neuhauss

In front of 2,627 fans, the “Wolfs” got off to a very good start with Alexandra Popp’s goal (16th). But Lucy Bronze (45th) and Sam Kerr (64th) turned the game around.

It is extremely bitter for us. We had a chance to score the second goal. And in the end, the decisive ball and the final consequence were missing.

VfL player Alexandra Popp

The VfL women slipped to ninth place in the table. This meant they missed out on direct entry into the quarter-finals. Instead, on the 11th/12th. and 18th/19th The play-offs will take place in February 2026.

The opponent is then either Juventus Turin or Real Madrid again. Despite a good game, Wolfsburg recently lost 2-0 in the Spanish capital. The draw will take place this Friday. It is already clear that the Lower Saxony team will have to play away in the second leg.

Women’s Football Champions League: All results and the current table of the group phase.

Like FC Barcelona, ​​OL Lyonnes and FC Bayern, Chelsea is also spared the lap of honor. The top quartet moved straight into the quarter-finals.

Hope of reaching the quarterfinals only lasts 30 minutes

At the beginning, Chelsea tried to gain respect in Wolfsburg through toughness. England captain Millie Bright overdid it against Kessya Bussy and was shown an early yellow card (8th).

But the Wolfsburg women didn’t give up, showed a mature game and deservedly took the lead. With Keira Walsh, Popp made another English international look quite old in a duel and scored with a dropkick to make it 1-0 (16th).

Chelsea were hardly even dangerous at first. On the other hand, Lineth Beerensteyn had the chance to make it 2-0 with both his head (25′) and his foot (39′), but didn’t make enough of the opportunities. Nevertheless, VfL was directly in the quarter-finals at this point due to the other results.

Wolfsburg loses the game…

But the glory was over before half-time as Chelsea began to build up pressure. The Wolfsburg team only had one chance to counterattack through Bussy. And so they had to accept the equalizer just before the half-time whistle. Stina Johannes came out of her goal much too half-heartedly and Bronze scored with a header – 1:1 (45th).

And the “Blues” almost turned the game around just seconds after the restart: Alyssa Thompson failed to hit the post. However, the scene set the tone for the second half – Chelsea kept having chances. And Johannes had to save several times in great need.

… and there is no happy ending

However, in the 65th minute she was powerless. Kerr evaded Camilla Küver, who was slipping away, from a cross and headed it in to make it 2-1.

A shock for the VfL women from which they only recovered late. But the equalizer almost fell. In the fourth minute of added time, Vivien Endemann hit the crossbar. So there was no happy ending.

However, a 2:2 would not have meant a better starting position for the play-offs in the table. A win, however, would have meant reaching the quarter-finals. At the end of the year, the “Wolves” will meet HSV in the Bundesliga on Sunday (6.30 p.m.).

Results, table standings and match days at a glance.