The decision about the title has probably been made in the women’s Bundesliga: Bayern Munich won comfortably 4-0 (0-0) against pursuers VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday (March 23, 2024) and thus extended their lead at the top.
Munich is now seven points ahead with five games remaining, and the remaining program is manageable in terms of difficulty – by normal standards there shouldn’t be anything wrong.
17th matchday arrow right
The game began with Bayern predominating, who immediately put pressure on Wolfsburg’s defense. The first big chance after almost four minutes was also a bit of a coincidence: a mixture of a shot and a high cross from Giulia Gwinn hit the crossbar, so VfL goalkeeper Merle Frohms probably wouldn’t have had a chance to defend.
Jönsdöttir misses a great opportunity to take the lead
But Wolfsburg were by no means hiding and should have taken the lead in the 13th minute. After a counterattack, Ewa Pajor placed the ball perfectly across for Sveindi Jonsdottir just before the penalty area. The Icelander was completely free in front of Maria Luisa Grohs, but lost her nerve and chased the ball far left of the corner.
Then it was the Bavarians’ turn again. In the 33rd minute, Pernille Harder tried an unconventional approach with the outside of her foot and flicked the ball just past the left. Barely a minute later, the Munich team was celebrating the goal again, but Frohms used an outstanding reflex to direct Lea Schüller’s shot around the right post.
Goals only in the second half
The Wolves saved the score at 0-0 at the break, but after the restart the guests quickly made things clear. In the 48th minute, Wolfsburg counterattacked in a classic way. Klara Bühl maneuvered past Kathin Hendrich in the VfL penalty area and put Harder in the spotlight – the Dane scored with a deflected shot to make it 1-0, which is now long overdue.
Almost ten minutes later the game and almost certainly the title fight was decided. After a corner from Bühl, Jovana Damnjanović lightly touched the ball with her head and hit the far corner to make it 2-0.
Schüller clears the air
Wolfsburg didn’t let themselves down afterwards, but had no impact without top striker Alexandra Popp, who had a knee injury. A quarter of an hour before the end, the top game was finally decided: Harder played a dream pass into the depths, Schüller ice-coldly shot past Frohms into the right corner to make it 3-0.
The fact that almost everything went wrong for Wolfsburg that evening was documented in the 87th minute: Georgia Stanway also scored 4-0 for Bayern with a deflected ball.
Wolfsburg in Freiburg, Bavaria in Duisburg
The Wolfsburg women now have three weeks to come to terms with this defeat, then they continue with the away game at SC Freiburg on April 13th. Bayern Munich can take the next step towards the championship title a day later at MSV Duisburg.