The Bremen team held out for an hour in the Bundesliga catch-up game. But then the Munich women got serious even without the best cast.
It wasn’t because of the Werder footballers’ oasis of well-being. In their 11th place stadium at the foot of the Bremen Weser Stadium there was a great football atmosphere in sunny temperatures on Wednesday evening. And for the first time, the stadium was packed with 3,100 fans. Nothing more was possible.
And the fans gave their all to defend their “fortress”, as the Bremen players call their stadium, against the German champions Bayern Munich. The Werder team has been undefeated on home turf so far this season. Even the record cup winners from Wolfsburg recently only got one point in Bremen.
Tired Werder women remain too harmless
Record crowd: 3,100 fans supported Werder’s footballers in the 11th place stadium against Bayern Munich.
The Munich team is currently playing in a league of its own, although Bayern coach José Barcala did not send his senior team onto the pitch. After all, the Munich team is in the middle of the important first and second leg of the Champions League against Barcelona.
The chance would have been there for Bremen to strike in this catch-up game. But it didn’t work, the Werder team played far too harmlessly for long stretches. The will was there, but the legs were simply too heavy.
It was the game plan today. It was the third game for us on the seventh day, which is a big challenge at the end of the season. It was a board and you reach your limits.(Werder coach Friederike “Fritzy” Kromp)
Bayern double strike after 60 minutes
In the 36th minute, Werder striker Larissa Mühlhaus could have given her team a boost with her chance to score, but she wasn’t determined enough. In the 60th minute, Natalia Padilla-Bidas got serious and gave Bayern a 1-0 lead.
And less than seven minutes later, Pernille Harder ice-coldly sank the penalty kick to make it 2-0 with her 15th goal of the season against the hopeless goalkeeper Mariella El Sheriff. The national player was only substituted on in the 60th minute.
Werder was out of steam
The 3,000 fans in the “fortress” tried again to encourage their Bremen players, but their disappointment over the two goals conceded was evident. The air was gone in the second half. And the Werder team lacked any faith that they could do anything against the physically very strong Munich team.
In the end, the champions showed their dominance when it was important to win the game. For a long time, something compelling was missing from both sides in this game. The Munich team got the 2-0 win and started thinking about the Champions League again.
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