Bayern Munich 2-0 over Ajax in the UEFA Women’s Champions League: Initial reactions and observations

Initial reactions and observations

Bayern Munich was thoroughly dominant in its 3-1 win over Ajax. Here are some quick hitters on the match:

• Bayern Munich was a juggernaut throughout the match, but it took until the second half for the offense to get on the same page. Had the Bavarians been more in sync early, this could have been a game where they scored five or six goals easily.
• Lina Magull, Marina Hegering, and Sydney Lohmann were the three Bayern Munich players who stood out the most in this one, but it was an excellent overall effort for the Frauen! There were a lot of really, really good efforts from the squad. Like always, I came away thoroughly impressed!
• The variety in Bayern Munich’s attack was great to see. While Lohmann was at the heart of nearly everything offensively, a lot of players were involved at different points of the game. Bayern clearly was confident in its ability to take the game directly at Ajax.
• Ajax had some talent, but clearly not enough to consistently threaten Bayern Munich.
• It is crazy to think about what this Bayern Munich team might look like if not for all of the injuries they have suffered.
• Does Laura Benkarth watch Manuel Neuer...or does Neuer watch Benkarth? People are asking...

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Full-time: That’s it Bayern Munich holds on for a 3-1 win over Ajax in the Champions League. Terrific effort for the Frauen!

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90’: We’ve got four minutes of extra time ahead of us.

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86’: GOAL!!!!!! Bayern leads 3-1 after Simone Laudehr adds another one! Bayern’s domination has paid dividends in the second half!

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80’: Laura Benkarth pulled some Manuel Neuer-type anticipation in coming out of net to thwart an Ajax rush, but just moments later the Dutch ide kept the momentum going and Jonna van de Velde scored for Ajax. It’s a 2-1 game with less than 10 minutes to go!

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75’: Veteran Simone Laudehr is on for Klara Bühl as Bayern Munich seems to protect its lead against Ajax.

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69’: GOAL!!!!!!!!! Sydney Lohmann out forth a dynamic solo effort and fired off a long distance, left-footed shot to give the Frauen a convincing two-goal lead!!!

That goal was well-deserved for Lohmann, who has been Bayern’s best player on offense.

Linda Dallman also came on for Sarah Zadrazil moments before the goal.

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56’: BAYERN SCORES! It’s 1-0 after a crazy goal that saw Lea Schüller flick a shot toward the net that deflected off of Ajax’s Kay-Lee de Sanders. I don’t know if that will go down as an own-goal or, but was more unlucky for De Sanders than anything.

Just before that, though, Hegering — who has been AWESOME — headed away a shot from Ajax that would have certainly been a goal for the Dutch side.

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52’: AAAH! Marina Hegering almost — once again — gave Bayern Munich the lead as she pulled a Benjamin Pavard and drill a half-volley, but it was just wide of the net. It was a fantastic effort, but didn’t provide that much-needed first goal.

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51’: Lina Magull put a very nice free kick into the box, but Lea Schüller just missed getting a solid piece of it. Bayern Munich is still dominant.

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50’: The second half looks similar to the first half as of now. There was a halftime substitution as Carolin Simon came on for Amanda Ilestedt.

Sydney Lohmann ripped off another shot, but it was directly at Kop.

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Halftime: It’s still 0-0. Bayern has been far better than Ajax. That much we know. The Frauen, however, need to get themselves straightened in the final third, which I fully expect to happen. Marina Hegering has been good, as have Lina Magull and Sydney Lohmann to name a couple of more players.

There is some music playing right now on the You Tube channel that sounds like it should be in the inspirational montage of an 80s teen movie.

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40’: I can’t emphasize enough how much Bayern is dominating this game. They’ll be frustrated that they aren’t up by two or three goals by now. But, hey, there is plenty of time left in this one.

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35’: Bayern Munich had another good opportunity, but Sydney Lohmann fired a shot wide of the net. It feels like Bayern will break through early in the second half. They just might need a little chalk talk to sure things up in the final third.

Just a hunch.

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30’: Bayern Munich is in complete control, but has not been able to break through the Ajax defense as of yet. I think it’s clear that the Frauen are the better and more dominant side at this point. Bayern just has not been able to find that right precision or clinical play around the net.

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20’: Aaaaaah! So close!!!! Marina Hegering had a golden opportunity capitalize on a scrum in front of the net for Bayern, but Ajax goalkeeper Lize Kop rose to the challenge with with a dramatic kick save! After a corner, the ball was bandied about in the box before squirting to Hegering, who almost gave the Frauen a lead.

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10’: Both teams were struggling to get much going offensively, but such is life in the Champions League. Bayern had a decent opportunity in the 8th minute as Lea Schüller got on the end of a ball in to direct a shot on goal that was turned away.

The Bavarians are starting to really assert themselves now.

Also, we still have news coming out during this contest. Don’t miss this update on Jerome Boateng’s status with the men’s team:

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5’: So far, both teams are really feeling each other out. It seems as if Ajax is a little more fluid at this stage, but it’s early.

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Kickoff: It’s me, Chuck, and I’m going to provide periodic updates here. Huge thanks to my man Phil for getting this Gamethread/Live Blog set up. We LOVE the Bayern Frauen here, so we are ready. As Redman once it’s “Time for some action!”

Seriously, does anyone remember when Mike Tyson entered the ring to that song against Peter McNeeley. Fantastic...anyway....we are underway!!!

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The lineups are out!

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Bayern Munich look to continue their amazing run to start the 2020/21 season when they travel to the Netherlands to face Ajax. It’s the Round of 32 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, and Bayern have their eyes set on advancing even further than they did last year, when they bowed out to eventual champions Lyon.

“We have a strong opponent coming up to us, but that suits us,” head coach Jens Scheuer said. “Then, our qualities also come into play and that’s why we’re looking forward to Ajax.”

The Bavarians are the favorites in the tie, and despite the numerous injuries, they should do the job in the away leg to make the home leg back in Munich easy.

Thanks to the way UEFA structured the Women’s Champions League television/streaming rights (This changes next year.), Bayern will be streaming both legs against Ajax on the club’s YouTube channel, Facebook page, and FCBayern.com.

It’s Bayern time.

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Match Info

Location: Sportpark De Toekomst, Ouder-Amstel, Netherlands

Time: 6 pm local time, 12 pm EST

TV/streaming: Facebook, YouTube, FCBayern.com, Find Your Country

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