Bayern and Barcelona take lead in first Champions League quarterfinals
NOS Soccer––Customized
Bayern Munich soccer players won the first match in the Champions League quarterfinals over Arsenal. In Munich, the German team won 1-0 over the team of Victoria Pelova and the injured Vivianne Miedema.
At the Allianz Arena, some 20,000 spectators saw Lea Schüller score the only goal of the evening in the 39th minute. After a smooth attack, Maximiliane Rall delivered the ball to the head of the German top scorer with a fine cross.
Schüller towered high above the Arsenal defense and left goalkeeper Manuel Zinsberger defenseless. It was the fourteenth goal of the season for the German international.
Arsenal pressed for the equalizer after halftime and brought Victoria Pelova into the lines in the sixtieth minute. Bayern held firm, despite a ball on the post by Caitlin Foord.
Barcelona narrowly past Roma
Later in the evening, Barcelona did the same by winning 1-0 over AS Roma. Goalkeeper a captain Sandra Paños can expect a hefty extra bounty as she kept Barcelona on their toes in the closing stages by preventing a sure-fire goal several times.
In front of almost twice as many spectators as in Munich, there were 39,454 people in the stands in Rome, Salma Paralluelo signed for the only goal after just over half an hour of play. The Spanish striker was played the ball on the edge of the penalty area, fooled her opponent thanks to a fine approach and then fired a clever shot.
Despite a carload of chances for the visitors, Barça failed to extend the score further. And thanks to Paños, who in the closing stages just tipped over a hard shot by Manuela Giugliano and kept a Valentina Giacinti effort out of her short corner, it remained 0-1.
Tomorrow the other quarterfinals in the Champions League are scheduled. Then VfL Wolfsburg (Lynn Wilms, Dominique Janssen, Jill Roord) will meet Paris Saint-Germain (Jackie Groenen, Lieke Martens) at home and Chelsea and Olympique Lyonnais (Damaris Egurrola, Daniëlle van de Donk) will take on each other.
The returns will be played next Wednesday and Thursday.
