Before the final tournament of the Champions League, the women’s soccer team is concerned about the corona situation in the Basque Country. Champion VfL Wolfsburg have good prospects, but Olympique Lyon are favorites. But the French have to take the FC Bayern hurdle first.
Would like to win the triple with VfL Wolfsburg. Photo: Marcel Kusch / dpa (Image: dpa)
(Photo: Marcel Kusch / dpa)
San Sebastian – Anna Palen knows how to win a triple. The national player of the German women’s soccer champions VfL Wolfsburg won the championship, DFB cup and Champions League trophies with her club in 2013.
But she also knows the feeling too well of failing at the last moment before triumph. In 2018, the 33-year-old lost with VfL in extra time against the currently overwhelming team of Olympique Lyon with 1: 4. At the corona-related Champions League final tournament from Friday in San Sebastian and Bilbao, she now wants to win her third triple. «We have a feasible way to the final. We’ll have to finally beat Lyon there, ”said the offensive player in an interview with the“ Thüringer Allgemeine ”.
Wolfsburg or Lyon – the direct encounter between the two top favorites can only take place in the final on August 30th in San Sebastian. VfL has the apparently easier way. On Friday (6 p.m. / Sport 1), the Scottish champions Glasgow City will be waiting for Stephan Lerch’s team. If the Lower Saxony win, it goes on Tuesday against the winner of the Spanish duel Atletico Madrid against FC Barcelona.
The only thing that can cloud the optimism of the female wolves is the rising corona numbers in Spain, combined with the federal government’s travel warning for the Basque Country. “The concept for holding our games is so detailed and precise that the risks are minimized,” said VfL sports director Ralf Kellermann to the “sports buzzer”. But only minimized: Five corona cases were recently known to possible semi-final opponents Atletico Madrid, and Olympique Lyon also had a positive test last week.
Coach Lerch assumes that there will be surprises like in the men’s tournament. And he’s hoping for a big one on Saturday (8 p.m. / Sport 1) when Lyon plays against Bayern Munich. Schützenhilfe from Bayern would do the wolves good. The Munich women are confident enough to believe in their own success against the six-time Champions League winner and trophy defender for the German national player Dzsenifer Maroszan.
«The development of our women’s football department has been extremely positive for many years. We are now one of the established players in the Champions League, and although we were given one of the most difficult tasks in Olympique Lyon, I definitely trust our team to master this quarter-final duel, “said CEO Karl- Heinz Rummenigge. The winner of this quarter-finals will face the winner of the match between Arsenal Ladies FC and Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals on Wednesday (8 p.m.).
The question will be what form the clubs bring to the Basque Country. The women’s Bundesliga was the only top European league that resumed play after the Corona break and brought the season to an end. “It can be good for us because there is a certain rhythm of competition,” speculates Lerch in the “Sportbuzzer”, but at the same time also made restrictions: “On the other hand, the other teams had a longer preparation period and are therefore possibly a little fresher.”
It should also be interesting how quickly the teams were able to integrate the new staff. In contrast to the men, the summer newcomers can already be used in the women’s Champions League. With Lena Oberdorf (Essen), Pauline Bremer (Manchester City) and Kathrin Hendrich (Munich), VfL has signed three German national players. Just like Bayern, who signed Martina Hegering, Lea Schüller (both Essen) and Klara Bühl (Freiburg) among others.
In any case, Lerch and his fellow Bayern coach Jens Scheuer are traveling to Spain with their teams optimistically. The dress rehearsals were clearly won. VfL beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-2, Bayern defeated Slavia Prague 4-0.
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