Although most of the men’s top-flight leagues are not in action thanks to the international break, we have no shortage of matches to look back on this weekend. Our selection includes some potential title deciders in major women’s leagues, as well as some clashes from men’s leagues.
By Neel Shelat
🇩🇪 Germany: Bayern München 1-0 Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg and Bayern München have finished in the top two of the Frauen-Bundesliga in each of the last eight seasons, and that streak looks set to continue. The big question, however, is what order they finish in.
Wolfsburg have won the league in seven of the last eight seasons, meaning Bayern have almost always had to settle for the runners-up spot. They occupied that familiar position once again going into the weekend, but had a golden chance to change things as they hosted their rivals with just two points between them.
With just six matches left after this one, both sides recognised this is a potentially season-defining match. The hosts were the ones who needed to win, so they seemed to be the more imposing side in the match. A little after the half-hour mark, they were convinced they’d scored after a corner when the ball was cleared off the goal line, but the referees did not agree. With no VAR or goal-line technology, there was no way to be certain, so everyone had to go with the on-field decision.
We seemed to be headed for a goalless draw, but with just a few minutes left on the clock, a major refereeing decision went Bayern’s way. Lena Lattwein was penalised for handball inside the penalty area, meaning Alexander Straus’ side had a glorious opportunity to win all three points from the penalty spot. Georgia Stanway stepped up, and she scored with no signs of hesitation.
This crucial victory puts Bayern in the driver’s seat as we approach the end of the season. Both sides’ run-ins look fairly similar in terms of fixture difficulty, so the title is Bayern’s to lose now.
🏴 England: Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea
This was Women’s Football Weekend in England, and it did not disappoint. The spoils were shared in the Merseyside derby on Friday night, Arsenal thrashed North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, and yet, the best had been saved for last. League-leaders Chelsea visited Manchester City, who were once pronounced out of the title race after a poor start to the season, but now found themselves within two points of their opponents. Chelsea do have a game in hand as well, it should be said.
For that reason, this game was billed as a must-win for City if they wished to keep up their unlikely title bid. They showed that they knew that right from kick-off, imposing themselves on the game and forcing Chelsea back. The home side could not really create any big chances after getting to the final third, but their attackers decided they did not need any.
In the 21st minute, after a high turnover, Lauren Hemp found FIlippa Angeldal on the right side of the box. The Swedish international realised that there was no one to close her down, so she picked out the far corner and left the goalkeeper rooted to her spot. Nine minutes later, a cross from the right broke for Hemp, who thrashed it home to take City two goals to the good.
Chelsea had looked comfortably second-best to that point, so much so that Emma Hayes felt the need to make a couple of changes in the 36th minute. Puzzlingly, though, one of the players who came off was danger player Lauren James. Unsurprisingly, Chelsea did not look any better without her, so City cruised home and came away with all three points.
That really makes things interesting in the WSL title race, which will surely go down to the wire. The fixture schedule is looking great from an entertainment point of view because the penultimate matchday has a Manchester derby and a London derby between the four main title rivals.
🇪🇸 Spain: Barcelona 1-0 Real Madrid
We’ve been treated with back-to-back Clásico in the space of a week. After the men’s sides went at it last weekend, it was time for the women this Saturday. The picture in Liga F was quite similar to LaLiga too, as Barcelona took a 10-point lead into this game. Maintaining that would not be enough, though, as they were looking to preserve their 100% record in the league this season.
It was goalless at half-time, though, and Barcelona did not look all that threatening. Of course, they kept more of the ball and looked the better side, but did not seem to have their usual cutting edge in the final third. As the match wore on, people certainly began to wonder if this was the day Barcelona’s winning streak was snapped.
It would have been quite a big occasion in that case. Not only would this be the first time Barcelona dropped points in the league, but it would also be the first time they would do so in 58 Liga F matches! A world record winning streak would come to an end, while Real Madrid would also register their first-ever Clásico point!
But, that was not to be. As we entered the last 15 minutes of regulation time, Salma Paralluelo was brought down in the box by Athenea del Castillo. Fridolina Rolfö stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick which she coolly converted to keep the Barcelona train chugging along.
This win takes Barcelona closer to yet another league, which could well be theirs by this time next month.
🌐 Euro 2024 Qualifiers: France 4-0 Netherlands
Defeated World Cup finalists France were back in action for the first time since that painful night at the Lusail Stadium, as they began their Euro 2024 qualification campaign against Netherlands. Not a lot had changed for them, except the fact that Hugo Lloris had retired so there was a new captain: Kylian Mbappé.
The Dutch had also fallen to Argentina in a dramatic quarter-final at the World Cup, which proved to be Louis van Gaal’s last match in management as he announced his retirement thereafter. So, the KNVB had to search for a new national team manager, and they decided to go back to Ronald Koeman.
His preparations for his first match back might have been rather ruined by a few cases of food poisoning in the squad which meant that a number of key players were sent home ahead of this fixture. Nonetheless, the ex-Barcelona manager was able to name a pretty strong line-up that should have been expected to give the French a run for their money.
But they didn’t. France scored twice within the first eight minutes and added a third in the 21st minute to effectively seal the result then and there. Unsurprisingly, Mbappé was the star of the show. He set up Antoine Griezmann for the opener, before starting and finishing a counterattacking move for the third. In between those, Dayot Upamecano bundled home a free-kick.
The Dutch seemed well beaten at the time in spite of Koeman’s attempt to change things with a first half tactical substitution, so France could take their foot off the pedal in the second half. Nevertheless, Mbappé decided to add another late on after toying with a couple of defenders before finding the bottom corner from the edge of the box, capping off a fantastic win for France.
Koeman and his men will need to perform a lot better than that if they intend to keep step with France in Group B. The good news for them is that they have Gibraltar next, so they will definitely get points on the board and likely erase their negative goal difference.
🇺🇸 MLS: Columbus Crew 6-1 Atlanta United
In spite of the men’s international break, we had a full round of MLS fixtures this weekend. That meant that some sides had to make do without key players, and that had quite an adverse effect on one of them.
Atlanta United’s season had gotten off to a very good start. With three wins and a draw, they went into this weekend sitting pretty at the top of the Eastern Conference. Their star man definitely was Thiago Almada, who had four goals and as many assists to his name in just four games. He did not make the trip to Columbus, though, as he was away with the Argentina squad celebrating their World Cup triumph back home. Six of his club teammates were away on international duty as well, including Greek striker Giorgos Giakoumakis.
These absences seemed to significantly weaken Atlanta’s attack, as they managed just two shots all game. Meanwhile, at the other end, they were leaking goals. They were just one down at half-time when left-back Andrew Gutman went off injured. It all went south thereafter, as Atlanta United suffered their worst-ever defeat in franchise history.
The Crew were also missing some key players such as Lucas Zelarayan and injured striker Cucho Hernández, but they clearly had no problems. Their youngsters have taken them through this international break in style, as four of their five scorers are aged 23 or younger. They will hope this serves as a launchpad for their bid to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020, when they ended up winning the whole thing.
🇧🇷 Brazil: Internacional 1-1 Caxias (agg. 2-2, 4-5 on pens)
In Brazil, the regional championships are drawing to a close. We have reached the play-off stage in most places, including the Campeonato Gaúcho. The second legs of both semi-finals were played this weekend, and there was one huge upset.
First, Grêmio needed penalties to get past Serie C side Ypiranga RS and book a berth in the final. Their opponents would either be Internacional or Caxias. They had played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the home of the fourth-tier side, so it was all to play for at the Estádio Beira-Rio.
Last year’s Serie A runners-up drew first blood through Maurício in the 21st minute, but they could not hold on to their lead till half-time. Three minutes into first half stoppage-time, Eronildo equalised with a header. There were no goals to come in the second half, so the tie was to be decided by penalties.
Both sides’ takers were faultless as the first eight spot-kicks were scored, but Internacional’s fifth attempt was clawed away from the corner by Bruno. So, Wesley stepped up with a chance to send his side through to the final, and he did not disappoint.
There were some unsavoury scenes at the end of the shootout as some of the Internacional players were unhappy with their opponents’ celebrations and caused quite a scuffle, which resulted in two sendings-off after the final whistle had been blown. Still, that should not mar what otherwise was a brilliant night for Caxias, who will now have the chance to win just their second Gaúcho title.
Cover Image from IMAGO