VAR luck, flash heal, title?
Biting wolves lust after FC Bayern
03/23/2023 1:49 p.m
Short stopover at the Mittelland Canal. After the VAR luck in the 1-0 win at Paris Saint-Germain, after Lena Oberdorf’s minor injury and before the summit at Bayern Munich, the Wolves are loaded with huge self-confidence. The rivals from the south should fear.
Above the clouds in Paris, Tommy Stroot only had the Bundesliga summit on his mind. The preparation for the showdown against Bayern Munich began for the master coach of VfL Wolfsburg on the plane home. “We’re really looking forward to it, it’s the top game in Germany,” emphasized Stroot on the morning after the 1-0 (0-0) win in the first part of the Champions League quarterfinals at Paris St. Germain. After a short night, regeneration and preparation have to be done in a hurry by Saturday (5.55 p.m./ARD)when the preliminary decision in the title race might be made on the sold-out Bayern campus.
The tailwind from the Prinzenpark was all the more important for Alexandra Popp and Co. “These are the most important games. We have to be fully there. And I have the feeling that we are a team that can perform when the pressure is greatest,” said central defender Dominique Janssen, who, according to video evidence ( 62.) made the decision: “That’s a huge strength.”
“Only” two points ahead of Bayern Munich
Since the VAR had only recently helped to correct a tricky penalty kick against VfL, Stroot only had words of praise for the referees. “One could argue” about the handball rule, but: “The video evidence confirmed why it exists. In both situations it was important that he intervened.” However, the VfL, which is unusually harmless in Paris, cannot rely on video aids for the next royal stage of their deadline hunt – the VAR does not (yet) exist in the women’s Bundesliga. But the Wolves can count on key player Lena Oberdorf again.
Thanks to the rapid healing after a knee sprain, the national player lasted almost 80 minutes, straddled and threw herself into duels as if nothing had happened. “Then she felt a certain tension,” reported Stroot: “We are currently clearly assuming that she will remain operational.” With a two-point lead over “runner-up” Munich, the front runners should now switch to champion mode immediately – with one day less of a break. FC Bayern won 1-0 (1-0) against Arsenal in the home first leg on Tuesday evening and, unlike Wolfsburg, does not have to cope with any travel strains.
According to Stroot, however, “it shouldn’t matter. We’re able to go full throttle every three days”. Next Thursday (6.45 p.m./DAZN) The PSG second leg in the Volkswagen Arena is also coming up for the seven-time champion.