Champions League in the risk area

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Giulia Gwinn (2nd from left) scores for Bayern in the last test match before the Champions League (archive image)

kolbert-press / Ulrich Gamel / imago images / kolbert-press

FC Bayern Munich and Olympique Lyon won their last test matches before their direct duel in the final tournament of the Women's Champions League (August 21 to 30). Munich won against Slavia Prague 4-0, Lyon dominated the Italian top team Juventus in a 3-0 victory in their own stadium.

Bayern confirmed their good shape in Regensburg and won thanks to goals from Amanda Ilestedt (30th minute), Giulia Gwinn (51st), Lea Schüller (74th) and Lineth Beerensteyn (88th). It was the third success in the third test match, before coach Jens Scheuer's team had won against FC Zurich and SC Freiburg. Unlike the men, summer entrants are also eligible to play in the final tournament. After her third goal for her new club, Schüller has a good chance of starting in the Champions League, she came from SGS Essen.

However, the Munich women are not considered favorites at the tournament in Spain. Quarter-final opponents Lyon have a choice of worlds: In addition to the German national player Dzsenifer Marozsán, coach Jean-Luc Vasseur can build Nikita Parris, Lucy Bronze, Wendie Renard, Saki Kumagai or Amandine Henry. Renard (29th), Kadeisha Buchanan (33rd) and young striker Melvine Malard (78th) met against Juventus.

Positive corona test at Olympique Lyon

Lyon announced a positive corona test in their squad this week. Goalkeeper Lola Gallardo, who had just moved from Atlético Madrid to France, had previously been quarantined after an inconclusive test result - a second test was positive shortly afterwards. The remaining players were tested regularly, so far all other results have been negative.

Nevertheless, the coronavirus pandemic will remain a central topic for the eight teams involved in the Champions League tournament (VfL Wolfsburg from the Bundesliga is also there). The game is played in Bilbao and San Sebastian, both cities, like almost all parts of Spain, are corona risk areas for the German authorities. On Friday, the Foreign Office even issued a travel warning for Spain, with the exception of the Canary Islands. The number of cases in Spain is currently increasing again significantly - as is the case in Germany.

At Uefa there are currently no plans to reschedule or even cancel the tournament. The Munich women will travel to Bilbao next Friday despite the travel warning. The game against Lyon is on Saturday (8 p.m., TV: Sport1).

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