Pernille Harder (center) scored her goals six to nine this Champions League season
Photo: Pool / Getty ImagesA quarter of an hour of hope: The women of Glasgow City FC went into the final tournament of the Champions League as blatant outsiders. They were able to keep up against VfL Wolfsburg for 15 minutes, acted aggressively with courage and presented the German series champions with problems. Then VfL striker Pernille Harder met and it was there for the Scottish women in their second quarter-finals in the premier class. So far this year they had only been able to play one game, a private sponsor made it possible to take part in this tournament. An exit that took place with the head held high.
The result: VfL Wolfsburg won 9-1 (4-0) against Glasgow City FC in the pouring rain of San Sebastián. The team of outgoing coach Stephan Lerch can continue to dream of the third title in the Champions League after 2013 and 2014.
The first half: The quarter-finals started with a surprise - courageous Glasgow women. Wolfsburg took control after ten minutes and took a 1-0 lead after a one-two from Harder and Alexandra Popp (15th minute). Glasgow's goalkeeper, Scottish international Lee Alexander, didn't look good doing it. Ingrid Engen increased head (19th) and foot (45th) to 2: 0 and 3: 0, before Harder scored 4: 0 with her second goal (45th + 2). When the Dane shot from distance, Alexander looked bad again.
Abbot number one: Franziska Abt had meanwhile only been number three in goal at VfL. At the start of the final tournament she was given preference over the Polish goalkeeper Katarzyna Kiedrzynek, who had come to Wolfsburg from Paris Saint-Germain. She earned it through her performance at the cup final: against SGS Essen, she saved two penalties on penalties and secured victory for her team. Against Glasgow, she cleared twice under pressure in the early stages, but had no chance when conceding.
Little news: In contrast to the men's tournament, up to six entries for the Champions League squad that were required in the summer can be re-nominated for women. VfL made ample use of this, but only the defensive player Kathrin Hendrich, who was signed by FC Bayern, was in the starting line-up. The 18-year-old Lena Oberdorf, the greatest talent in German football, initially stayed on the bench - she came on for Popp in the 80th minute.
The second half: surprise, the second. Glasgow City FC had the first opportunity: Northern Irish Lauren Wade only missed Abt's goal by a few centimeters. Her shot went just past the left (49th). In the 56th minute, Harder increased his head to 5-0. Wade then hit a ball on the left corner of the penalty area perfectly, which dropped over Abt into the goal (63.). Felicitas Rauch sank a rebound to 6: 1 in the 67th minute. What was Harder doing? Hit again in the 71st minute with a header to make it 7-1. It was her ninth goal in the fifth game of the competition. An own goal by Leanne Ross meant the 8: 1 for VfL (79th). The 8: 2 prevented the crossbar shortly afterwards - at Leanne Crichton's long-range shot, Abt could only look behind. The 9: 1 was again an own goal - the final point in stoppage time.
BVB past with the opponent: Coach Scott Booth was active as a player at Borussia Dortmund in the late 1990s. Ten Bundesliga games and three appearances in the Champions League for BVB are on his books. The former striker is likely to have placed his goal ambitions primarily on the newly signed Krystyna Freda. The US attacker had scored 245 goals in three years in Cyprus. Two hundred and forty-five. But Booth was no less happy about Wade's goal.
The outlook: On Tuesday at 8 p.m., VfL will face FC Barcelona in the first semi-final match, who beat Atlético Madrid 1-0 (0-0). The second German representative, FC Bayern Munich, will intervene in the tournament tomorrow, Saturday (8 p.m., TV: Sport1, live ticker: SPIEGEL.de). The FCB women face the big title favorites Olympique Lyon in the quarter-finals. The final will take place on Sunday, August 30th.
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