Big game in a big arena: in front of 13,000 spectators, Bayern Munich’s soccer team lost the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris 2-1.
Foto: imago images/Michael Memmler
As the premiere in the large Munich arena drew to a close for the FC Bayern women’s footballers, after many detailed sporting analyses, it was all about the big picture – and thus also about the overarching questions about women’s football. So Jens Scheuer was asked for an outlook. The Munich coach paused briefly before making the transition from the atmospheric debut on Tuesday evening to those games that he believes should also be played in this context in the future. “It’s great that 13,000 people were here. I think my girls deserve that too. Anyone who saw the game wasn’t bored in the stands,” said Scheuer before looking to the future: “I hope it wasn’t a flash in the pan. But that we continue to work our way up and have an experience like this again in the Champions League and in selected games.«
From his point of view and that of his players, nothing speaks against it. What’s more, they want repeats, and anyway they think their premiere in the Munich Arena was long overdue. Scheuer put it this way: “It was advertising for women’s football and a worthy stage for my players.” President Herbert Hainer expressed the hope of a “signalling effect for women’s football”. The chairman of the board, Oliver Kahn, tweeted: “A great evening for the FCB women.”
The reason for the whole thing was the first leg of the Munich soccer team in the quarter-finals of the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain. FC Bayern lost the first comparison with the French champions unluckily with 1: 2 (0: 1). Marie-Antoinette Katoto scored the goals for the guests in the 19th and 71st minutes after corner kicks and in each case in the middle of the German champions’ urge phases, who, among other things, hit the post twice in the second half. Klara Bühl still managed to make it 1:2 (84th) with a powerful free kick, which means that the Munich team still has realistic hopes of reaching the semifinals before the second leg next Wednesday in Paris’ Prinzenpark.
Captain Lina Magull called the defeat “annoying,” the two goals conceded by standards were “filthy,” she said on the DAZN streaming service, which broadcast the game live and discovered the women’s Champions League as a whole. “But we can be really, really satisfied with the performance. We dominated the game over long stretches,” said Magull. That’s why she was “totally optimistic that we’ll take our chances next week and make progress.”
At least as important as the sporting aspects of the event was the signal of appreciation for women’s football that emanated from this arena evening. This also included the fact that Oliver Kahn attended a women’s game for the first time. President Hainer, sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, men’s coach Julian Nagelsmann and his players Leon Goretzka, Dayot Upamecano and Alphonso Davies, whose girlfriend Jordyn Huitema plays for PSG and came on as a substitute in the 85th minute, were also in the stands. To the delight of the footballers, they were signs of interest and recognition. Above all, they want sustained support, including from the club. It remains to be seen how far this will come about. It is also unclear whether they will be allowed to return to the arena if they make it to the semifinals.
While in England, France, Spain and Italy the big games of the soccer players have long been played in the big stadiums, the Munich women had to wait a long time for it. So far, the record for the FC Bayern women’s soccer team was 7,300 spectators, set five years ago in the stadium on Grünwalder Straße, also in a quarter-final against PSG. Now the generally very loud audience applauded themselves when stadium announcer Stephan Lehmann, who usually accompanies the men’s games, announced the new record, almost twice as high, in the middle of the second half. In an international comparison, however, the popularity is manageable. Elsewhere, five-digit numbers have been reached for years. 85,000 fans will flock to the Camp Nou next Wednesday for the quarter-final second leg between the women of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid – a world record in women’s club football. The game has been sold out for around two months, and all tickets were sold out within three days. Barca won the first leg 3-1 on Tuesday night – at Real’s small Alfredo Di Stefano stadium.
Even if such numbers are unrealistic in this country, the potential seems to be great, at least for the top clubs VfL Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich. It would only have to be woken up more, that’s how industry experts see it. Highlight games in front of a large audience and their live broadcasts are important to attract attention. However, the greater task is seen as permanently achieving four-digit viewer numbers in the Bundesliga. That would be essential for development, they say. In addition, others set the tone in sporting and financial terms: FC Barcelona, Olympique Lyon, PSG and the English clubs. Wolfsburg and Bayern follow the music, as does the national team of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, who also watched in the Munich Arena.
Bayern’s captain Magull was happy about a “great experience”. “A certain euphoria” could be felt, said the midfielder, “I think it could become a regular occurrence”. The first thing to do on Sunday is to return to everyday life for the Bundesliga home game against SGS Essen in the small campus stadium. After all, Julian Nagelsmann has been there several times as a spectator – without any special reason.
