Bühl Helps Bayern To Thrash Juventus | OneFootball

Alex Straus’ made four changes from the win away to Essen last Saturday with Magdalena Eriksson replacing Tuva Hansen in defence, Sarah Zadrazil returning in place of Julia Zigiotti in midfield, and in attack, Alara Şehitler and Lea Schüller were replaced by Linda Dallman and Jovana Damnjanović.

This article written by Matthew Coates

The Bayern XI was as follows:

Ena Mahmutovic (GK) – Giulia Gwinn, Glódís Viggósdóttir (c), Magdalena Eriksson, Carolin Simon – Sarah Zadrazil, Georgia Stanway – Linda Dallmann, Pernille Harder, Klara Bühl, Jovana Damnjanović

Coming into this game, Bayern remained top of their UWCL group stage, with three wins and a draw. They had already secured passage to the quarterfinals due to results elsewhere, meaning the motivation for Bayern in these last two matches was to finish top of the group, getting a theoretically easier draw in the knockout stages.

Juventus, whilst no longer having anything to play for in the UWCL are a strong team, currently six points clear in their league whilst being unbeaten. A good test for this Bayern team.

Professional First Half

Bayern began the game motivated and determined. Whilst not creating floods of chances, they were disciplined with the ball, looking for openings and counter pressing both aggressively and effectively when losing the ball. With the campus crowd fully behind them, Bayern began to put Juventus under huge amounts of pressure.

The first real chance for Bayern came in the 18th minute, where a driving run from Gwinn meant she could cross a ball to Harder, who managed to redirect the header narrowly over the bar from an awkward angle. The pressure was showing and Juventus started to look sloppy when defending.

The sloppiness would eventually lead to the opener. In the 22nd minute, Bühl went on a weaving run from the left hand side into the box, and unleashed a powerful shot that rebounded off the crossbar. The ball rebounded to the feet of Harder, who repeatedly attempted to strike the ball but Juventus keeper, Peyraud Magnin, but she couldn’t get it past. The ball eventually spun away from the keeper and was pounced on by Damnjanović, who took a touch and rifled the ball into the roof of the net, 1-0.

Moments after the restart, some lovely interplay between Bühl and Simon resulted into a dangerous deflected shot from Bühl at the near post, but Magnin got a hand to it.

Bayern then took some time to re-establish control over proceedings, solidifying their grip and halting any chances for Juventus momentum to build. The next chance came in the 34th minute with a ferocious Stanway volley from the edge of the box that whistled past the post, after a weak defensive clearance provided the opportunity. Bayern were eager for the second, and almost got it after an Eriksson header sailed narrowly over the bar, following an impressive Bühl corner.

In the final moments of the half, Dallmann latched onto a pass from Gwinn and struck an effort toward the near post producing a comfortable save for Magnin.

Juventus opportunities were few and far between, and Bayern, especially Bühl were in a devastating mood. If nothing changed over the break, Bayern were surely set up to extend their lead beyond sight.

Dominant Second Half

It seemed little had changed at the beginning of the second half, with Bayern piling on the pressure. A low-hit corner from Simon failed to reach a Bayern player, but Juventus struggled to clear their lines and the ball eventually fell to Stanway, who fluffed a golden opportunity to score.

Bühl continued her excellent form from the first half, and was crucial to Bayern attacks. In the 52nd minute, she dribbled past a number of defenders and shot powerfully to the near post, and the ball was parried into a dangerous area by Magnin. Harder latched onto the ball and struck first time to extend Bayern’s lead, 2-0. That meant that Harder has scored six goals in five UWCL games so far this season, showcasing her considerable European pedigree.

Bayern were defending exceptionally well as a team, limiting Juventus to minimal opportunities. Some efforts from long range, but Mahmutović dealt with those well, and some corners that never seemed to concern the defence.

In the 70th minute, Schüller’s first touch almost resulted in a goal (having come on for Damnjanović in the 68th), but her header went narrowly over following a Bühl corner.

Viggósdóttir picked up the ball in Bayern’s half in the 73rd minute, and hit an incredible long ball behind the Juventus defence that Bühl sprinted onto. She controlled it beautifully with her shoulder, and dribbled past two defenders before curling an effort past Magnin, 3-0. Bühl scored her first UWCL goal since December 2022, but certainly deserved this one.

In the 80th minute, Straus took off both Stanway and Harder for Zigiotti and Şehitler and the latter would soon go on to get Bayern’s fourth. Lohmann, who had come on in the 58th minute for Dallmann made a driving run from the right hand side to the edge of the box and fired a delicate pass into Schüller. She flicked the ball back into the path of Şehitler on the edge of the box, and she was able to delicately curl an effort past Magnin for Bayern’s fourth of the evening, 4-0. It was Şehitler’s first UWCL goal, and certainly one that showcased her undoubted quality despite having just turned 18.

Bayern were eager for more, and could nearly managed it before the final whistle. A corner from Bühl was headed on at the near post by Viggósdóttir across the goal, but Şehitler failed to convert for her second. In the final moments, Bühl almost got her second with a curling effort at the near post, but the ball was punched away by Magnin and the final whistle blew.

Final two games before the winter break

With this result, Bayern remain one point clear of second placed Arsenal, after they were able to win against bottom side Vålerenga away from home 1-4. This means that in Bayern’s final game of 2024 will ultimately decide who finishes first. If Bayern avoid defeat in that match, they will go through as group winners and set up a tie against a team who finished second in a different group, a preferable task to facing one of the group winners.

The match this evening was extremely impressive whichever way you look at it. Bayern limited a team of Juventus’ quality to half-chances at best, whilst completely deserving four goals of their own. I think it is too simple to suggest that Juventus were simply unmotivated and thus the lackluster performance and in reality I think that Bayern made Juventus look average. Bayern failed to win in either of their matches against Roma in last-season’s UWCL, a team that domestically is doing worse than Juventus at this moment. Another sign that Bayern are looking like a force in this season’s UWCL.

Finally, as can be seen throughout my report, Klara Bühl deserves a special mention for her performance this evening. At times it felt like she was a conductor for everything good that Bayern did going forward, and without her talismanic performance, the game would have been considerably harder.

With just the one year remaining on her contract, performances like tonight showcase her incredible talents and why she is drawing so much interest across Europe. As Bayern fans, we will all be hoping that Big Game Bühl will sign an extension and help Bayern to go further in Europe. Up next, Bayern will play host to Turbine Potsdam on Sunday, 15th December.