OneFootball
Richard Buxton·30 January 2024
OneFootball
Richard Buxton·30 January 2024
The final round of Women’s Champions League group stage fixtures kicked off on Tuesday with plenty still to play for.
Here’s what went down …
Scorers: Gwinn 36′, Lohmann 75′; Chawinga 73′, Stanway (OG) 88′
Bayern Munich’s Champions League journey ended in heartache after drawing with eventual Group C winners Paris Saint-Germain.
Giulia Gwinn had broken the deadlock for the hosts with a looping header after Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir had flicked on an initial corner.
A superb solo effort from Tabitha Chawinga, seizing on a long ball, threatened to condemn Alexander Straus’s side to shortfall.
Parity lasted all of two minutes, however, as Sydney Lohmann met Klara Bühl’s deep cross to the far post with a bullet header.
But there was one final twist in the tale when an unfortunate deflection off Georgia Stanway drew the Parisiennes level in the 88th minute.
Scorers: Hoekstra 45′, Kramžar (OG) 85′; Bartoli 32′
Elisa Bartoli handed the visitors a lead shortly after the half-hour mark with a diving header to meet Manuela Giugliano’s free kick.
But Tiny Hoekstra struck back on the stroke of half time with a sweeping finish inside the area after being teed up by Lily Yohannes.
La Lupa suffered further heartache when Zara Kramžar turned the ball into her own net in the final five minutes of the clash.
Scorers: Kirby 10′, Fishel 37′, Reiten 74′, Mjelde 79′
Chelsea rounded off an unbeaten group stage campaign by emphatically denying Paris FC’s bid to finish as runners-up.
Fran Kirby opened the scoring in the tenth minute, meeting Jelena Čanković’s deep cross at the far post with a tidy header.
Another delivery from Čanković helped double the lead for Emma Hayes’ side as Mia Fishel powered home from close range.
The hosts spurned a chance to keep their fading bid to reach the knockout stage alive as Julie Dufour hooked the ball over in the area.
Matters worsened for them as the Blues went further ahead through Guro Reiten capitalising on a defensive mix-up to score with ease.
In the final 10 minutes, poacher turned provider as Reiten teed up compatriot Maren Mjelde to glance home a fourth from a corner.
Scorers: Kafaji 63′
Elsewhere in Group D, Häcken reached the last-eight stage after recording a double over rock-bottom Real Madrid.
Clarissa Larisey spurned a golden opportunity in the opening 30 seconds by hooking a shot across the face of goal after drawing Mylène Chavas.
But the Swedish outfit delivered a breakthrough shortly after hour mark as Rosa Kafaji nodded home Monica Jusu Bah’s cross from the byline.
Mak Lind’s side finished three points behind group winners Chelsea to reach their third quarter-final since 2012.