The Munich team is holding up well against the top favorites in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League. Starring: Franziska Kett.
Franziska Kett was right in the middle of the hugs after the final whistle. The tragic figure of FC Bayern needed consolation after the semi-final show of strength against FC Barcelona, then the national player vowed with her team to the applause of the fans for the second leg next week at the Camp Nou.
After the 1:1 (0:1) win in the Champions League clash, which was fought while outnumbered, the champions can continue to dream of a triple. Kett played a big part in this with her equalizer (69th), but because she pulled Salma Paralluelo by the hair during the running duel, she was sent off with a red card ten minutes later. And will be absent from the reunion on May 3rd.
“A tricky situation. She definitely didn’t do it on purpose,” said teammate Klara Bühl, explaining the fateful scene on “Disney+”: “She wanted to take off the jersey and would have certainly deserved a yellow card, no question about it. Her hair is in the way.”
In front of 31,000 fans in the Allianz Arena, former Wolfsburg player Ewa Pajor (8th) gave the top favorites Barca, who could reach the final for the sixth time in a row, an early lead. But six months after the 1:7 humiliation in the league phase, the Munich women, who were well adjusted by coach José Barcala, showed a different face when they met again.
Before the biggest game of their season so far, Bayern tried to shake off the disgrace from October.
“You have to believe in it,” said national player Klara Bühl, who was back in the starting line-up for the first time in over two months after recovering from a calf injury: “Everyone has to radiate that.”
Kett completes the counterattack – and then sees red
Nevertheless, the respect shown by the Munich women was evident. When the opposition had the ball, Bayern usually defended close to their own goal and waited for counterattacks. That worked every now and then, especially over Bühl. But while Pernille Harder (7th) missed the first good chance of the game, Barca were ice cold: after a positional error by Giulia Gwinn, Pajor was in the right place in the center.
However, there wasn’t much more from Barca in the first half. Instead, in front of Uli Hoeneß and club boss Jan-Christian Dreesen, Bayern became stronger and more confident. Shortly before the break, Kett (42nd) had Munich’s best chance, but was denied by goalkeeper Cata Coll.
Only after the break did Barca become more active again – and things immediately became dangerous. However, Esmee Brugts (49th) only hit the post, and defender Vanessa Gilles (60th) cleared for Bayern just in front of the goal line. On the other side, Kett (21) completed a well-played counterattack. Then Bayern’s best player was sent off – Barcala also saw a red card for complaining.
