Manchester United’s Women’s Champions League journey ended in Germany as Bayern Munich struck with two late goals to propel themselves into the semi-finals, despite a spirited display from the English side.
Marc Skinner’s team led on the night for 70 minutes after Melvine Malard’s opener but Bayern built up a heavy spell of pressure in the second half and eventually found a way through United’s dogged resistance, as Glódís Viggósdóttir’s header from a corner and Linda Dallmann’s sweetly struck half-volley gave the runawayBundesliga leaders a 5-3 aggregate victory.
Trailing 3-2 from last week’s first leg at Old Trafford, United always faced an uphill task but they gave themselves hope with one of their best performance in recent weeks, but Bayern, backed by a vibrant 25,000-strong crowd, never trailed on aggregate across the entire tie and there was an air of inevitability about their late breakthrough. Barcelona almost certainly await them in the last four, as they lead Real Madrid 6-2 on aggregate before Thursday’s second leg in Catalonia.
After Saturday’s disappointing display in a 3-0 loss to Manchester City, and specifically how low on energy and intensity the United players looked for large parts of that game, the travelling fans will have likely arrived in Munich with low expectations. Their squad is shallow, amid injuries to senior players including Ella Toone, Dominique Janssen and the striker Elisabeth Terland. They will have been pleasantly surprised, then, to see their team produce an exceptional first-half display full of belief, energy and bravery in attack.
