Key events
Tom Garry
It’s unseasonably cold here in Munich but that is not dampening the mood here among the 400 or so travelling Manchester United fans, many of whom have enjoyed a stein or two in the old town during the day. The Bayern fans, meanwhile, sounded very optimistic, as they caught the U6 train north to the impressive Allianz Arena.
For the visitors, who are missing several senior players through injury, tonight will be an uphill battle, but if they can pull off a shock result, it would rank among the greatest nights in their short history. Probably the greatest.
First leg: A reminder as to how it went down a week ago in Manchester … The Bayern Munich substitute Momoko Tanikawa scored six minutes from time to give her side the win. Twice Pernille Harder had given Bayern the lead only to be pegged back by United, playing at this stage for the first time. However, back from Australia after helping Japan win the Women’s Asian Cup the weekend before, Tanikawa conjured up a beautiful, curling strike into the far corner to ensure a one-goal cushion.
Bayern Munich: And here is José Barcala’s thoughts on his side’s chances to progress to the semi-finals.
double quotation mark We have made a few adjustments and analysed United’s tactics again. But it could be a completely different game; they might change their approach. That’s precisely why it will be extremely important for us to manage the match well. We expect a very aggressive and well-organised opponent.The presence of the fans will give us tremendous energy and will carry us through difficult phases. This support is the result of the connection this team has built with the fans over the past few years.
Manchester United: Here is what Marc Skinner had to say ahead of his side’s tough ask in Germany.
double quotation mark I believe in this team. The only thing missing [which stopped] Bayern from having a really tough night at Old Trafford was a little bit of composure in the final third. There were two or three passes that we missed that would have created goalscoring opportunities, so we have to sharpen up on that. We know what we have to do [tonight]. We have to come in and silence a fantastic arena with brilliant fans and we have to go and create history.
Team news
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Mahmutovic; Gwinn, Viggosdottir, Gilles, Simon; Kakounan, Stanway; Dallmann, Tanikawa, Kett; Harder.
Subs: Grohs, Kreuzpaintner, Ballisager, Eriksson, Padilla, Caruso, Dunst, Imade, Zähringer.
Bernadette Kakounan replaces Arianna Caruso in the starting XI and Momoko Tanikawa has made her case to start as well. Georgia Stanway makes her 50th Uefa club competition appearance. At 27 years and 88 days, she becomes the youngest English player to achieve the feat, surpassing Keira Walsh, who was 27 years and 184 days.
Manchester United (4-3-3): Tullis-Joyce; Riviere, Le Tissier, Turner, Lundqvist; Zigiotti Olme, Miyazawa, Aujo; Park, Malard, Rolfö.
Subs: Rendell, Middleton-Patel, George, Naalsund, Schüller, Anderson.
Marc Skinner makes two changes from the first leg with Jayde Riviere and Simi Awujo replacing Lea Schüller and Lisa Naalsund in the starting XI. With quite a few injuries, only four outfield players are named on the bench.
Referee: Tess Olofsson (Sweden)
Preamble
Champions League. Quarter-finals. Second leg. Team looking to overcome a one-goal deficit in their first-ever appearance in the main phase of the competition. What’s not to love?
Manchester United head to Germany hoping to overturn a 3-2 deficit after a thrilling leg at Old Trafford. Momentum swung continually between the two sides as United equalised twice before eventually losing to a superb strike from Momoko Tanikawa.
“We’re not a team that just wants to make up the numbers; we want to be in this competition until the latter stages,” said the Manchester United coach, Marc Skinner. It will be a tough ask though. To progress, United will need to become the first-ever English team to win at Bayern. The German side have been victorious in all five of their previous home Women’s Champions League games against teams from England.
Join me for the 5.45pm BST kick-off and, as always, if you have any thoughts, predictions and questions send me an email. Team news coming up!
