The unrest at Chelsea FC in the men’s business is just big enough, so the women can perhaps offer a bit of a distraction.
Exactly where the star ensemble coached by club icon Frank Lampard received a lesson in the Champions League defeat against Real Madrid last Tuesday (April 18, 2023), Chelsea’s footballers are now playing in the Champions League semifinals against FC Barcelona (Saturday 1.30 p.m.): at the Stamford Bridgemeanwhile, as a matter of course in top games, also the stage of the ladies.
A lot of work is waiting against a world-class team
The constellation against the Spanish top team – victorious in a whopping 60 league games – does not bring back such good memories for the English champions: in 2021 Emma Hayes’ ensemble went down 0: 4 in the final in Gothenburg. Melanie Leupolz, who was substituted at half-time, had a pitch-black day when she scored an own goal and owed a penalty. Powerless in the bankruptcy: goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, the second German international in the “blues“.
The 32-year-old will now be particularly important in the semi-finals against the strong attacking opponents, where world footballer Alexia Putellas could make her comeback after a long injury break. The Barça women have scored 35 Champions League goals. It will need a capable goalkeeper on the other side.
A final against VfL Wolfsburg and Merle Frohms is possible
Should Chelsea actually throw out the top favorite and face VfL Wolfsburg in the second semi-final Arsenal WFC (Sunday 3.30 p.m.), then there could be a showdown of the German national goalkeepers in the final (03.06.2023) in Eindhoven. Merle Frohms from VfL Wolfsburg recently gave up in the internationals against the Netherlands (1-0) and Brazil (1-2) due to back problems.
When Berger was substituted on for the ailing Frohms at the break in the first test on Good Friday in Sittard against the Netherlands, the former Potsdamer stunned with some daredevil saves. When voting for the player of the game on the DFB homepage, she also received the most votes.
“It was perfect for my game to come in like that”she said afterwards. “A strong performance from both goalkeepers”, praised national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, who has the least to worry about in the goalkeeper position with a view to the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, even if Berger did not look so good against Brazil when conceding a goal. Should Frohms drop out, she would be a strong replacement with a special CV.
Two cancers survived
Because you have to consider what Berger has already been through: namely two treatments for thyroid cancer. In 2017 she was operated for the first time. Ironically, at the European Championships in her adopted home of England, there were first indications that the disease had returned to the third German goalkeeper. Understandably, this was initially communicated in the German quarter in Brentford.
Berger soon underwent radioiodine therapy with tablets and announced: “It’s a long process over several years, in which of course something always happens, but it can also heal.” At the end of September she was back between the posts at Chelsea and was relieved to say: “I no longer have any symptoms from the disease and no more deficits.” When she played for the DFB women for the fourth time on the USA trip last November, she had tears in her eyes at the national anthem.
In the quarterfinals defending champion switched off
How good her form was could be admired in the Champions League quarter-finals, when she made magnificent saves in the penalty shoot-out against the defending champion Olympique Lyon decided. Germany assistant coach Britta Carlson and England fan and goalkeeping coach Michael Fuchs were present at Stamford Bridge when the Germany international goalkeeper decided the thrill of the penalty spot.
“My team-mates know I love penalties”Berger said happily afterwards. “I don’t feel any pressure. You have to score, not me!” For her coach Emma Hayes she is the strongest penalty keeper, “I’ve Ever Worked With”. It would be worth considering whether Berger would become an option at the World Cup if such a decision was made in the knockout stages. Berger recently came third in the FIFA World Goalkeeper award. Just behind Mary Earps from European champions England and Christiane Endler from Chile, who plays for Lyon.