With the men’s game in complete disarray this weekend’s Women’s Champions League semi-finals bring a welcome break. Emma Hayes’ side take on the German giants Bayern Munich who bested 11-time Swedish champions Rosengard in the previous round. Neither side has reached the final before and with both top of their respective domestic league this one is literally too close to call. Here’s all you need to know about Chelsea’s opponents.
The Team
Chelsea is arguably playing Bayern at the best possible time. Up until this month, Bayern’s most recent defeat came in last season’s Champions League when they were beaten by eventual winners Lyon. The past few weeks however they have been an entirely different side. First, they lost to the true powerhouse of German football, Wolfsburg, in the semi-final of the DFB-Pokal Frauen. They followed this with their first league loss of the campaign, falling to Hoffenheim 3-2 after taking a two-goal lead in the opening 15 minutes. The Bavarians claimed a win last Wednesday but the taste of defeat will still be fresh in the minds of a Munich side desperate to win a first trophy in five years.
The Coach
At the helm is Jens Scheur who joined the club after four mixed years at Bundesliga rivals Freiburg. Scheur has yet to lay his hands on any silverware but this season looks to be hist best chance yet. Interestingly, speaking on International Women’s day Scheur actually admitted to his side being below the quality of Chelsea which doesn’t strike me as particularly confident although maybe he is just being modest as there is certainly plenty of quality on the field.
The Key Players
Lina Magull: Last summer Chelsea signed Bayern’s captain Melanie Leupolz who has become an important part of the Blues backline. Taking up the armband in Bavaria is midfielder Lina Magull. Magull is the lifeblood of this team providing five goals and nine assists in the league with Bayern having scored 73 in total. Previously Magull played for both Wolfsburg and Freiburg and earlier this month she was one of four Bayern players named in the national side. She is one of the most experienced players for both club and country and that will be vital in dismantling a Blues squad dripping with star quality.
Viviane Asseyi: Picking a main attacking threat for a side who score so often is challenging and it would be too easy to pick top scorer Lea Schuller. In her first season at the club Schuller has 23 goals across all competitions but I’ve opted for another new signing, Viviane Asseyi. The Frenchwoman joined the Bundesliga outfit last summer departing Bordeaux, for whom she scored 12 league goals. This season she has eight so far but missed almost four months through injury before returning in March. Fans of both the United States and England national teams may remember her from their recent matchups with France, Asseyi netting against the latter as Les Bleues won 3-1.
Maria Grohs: If you thought Bayern’s goalscoring abilities were impressive then allow me to introduce their defence at the heart of which is goalkeeper Laura Benkarth who looks likely to miss the opening fixture. Bayern have conceded eight goals this season. This initially seems impressive but the importance of Benkarth becomes clear when you realise five of these have come in the last two matches – both of which she missed through injury. Her replacement has been 19-year-old Maria Grohs who made her debut in the loss to Hoffenheim so she will need quite literally the game of her life to keep Bayern in this tie. Unfortunately, there isn’t a great deal of backup available to Scheur if he decides Grohs isn’t up to scratch. On the bench for the past two games has been 41-year-old Kathrin Lehmann, drafted in from the over 35 squad. Chelsea has one of the best attacks imaginable and they will need to take advantage of this glaring chink in the armor.
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