Key events
It’s raining goals in Spain. It’s Real Madrid 2-5 Barcelona now.
Linda Caicedo just scored her second of the night for Madrid, and it was a belter, arrowed into the top corner from the edge of the box after a driving run at a backpedalling Barcelona defence.
Tom Garry
The local weather has provided a proper ‘welcome to Manchester’ for the Bayern Munich players today, with not only a chilling, blustery wind and frequent heavy showers but even a sudden burst of hail, which pounded on to the top of my car like pebbles a couple of hours ago as I was driving along the M56 towards the stadium. There is a freezing-cold feel in the air and rumours of an overnight frost on the way. So it will feel like this game is being played in January rather than late March, and you wonder whether than can benefit the hosts. Everyone in the stands has their hat, their scarves and their gloves back on again.
I’ll expand on those teams shortly, but now, an update from our intrepid reporter at Old Trafford …
Teams
Manchester United Women: Tullis-Joyce, Lundkvist, Le Tissier, Turner, Rolfo, Zigiotti Olme, Miyazawa, Naalsund, Park, Schuller, Malard. Substitutes: Rendell, Middleton-Patel, George, Terland, Awujo, Riviere, Anderson.
Bayern Munich Women: Mahmutovic, Gwinn, Viggosdottir, Gilles, Simon, Stanway, Amani, Dallmann, Caruso, Kett, Harder. Substitutes: Grohs, Ballisager, Eriksson, Tanikawa, Bidas, Dunst, Imade, Zahringer, Kreuzpaintner.
Real Madrid 1-4 Barcelona is a latest score in tonight’s earlier kick-off.
That’s ONE-FOUR to Barça. Remarkable.
Ewa Pajor (two), Esmee Brugts and Irene Paredes have scored the goals for Barcelona. One or two more and they’ve put the tie to bed before the second leg.
Tom Garry
It is no exaggeration to describe the next seven days as the most significant week of fixtures in the history of the Manchester United women’s team, as they contest their first European quarter-final with a crucial derby in between.
Debutants in the Champions League main draw, Marc Skinner’s side now have three box-office matches in huge arenas, starting with the first leg of their quarter‑final against Bayern Munich on Wednesday at Old Trafford, as the runaway Frauen‑Bundesliga leaders arrive in England hoping to illustrate their own European title credentials. The stage is set for a thriller.
Preamble
On their debut in the main draw of the Women’s Champions League Manchester United Women now find themselves facing one of the juggernauts of European football. It doesn’t get much tougher than a two-legged quarter-final encounter against Bayern Munich: but the manager Marc Skinner and his players are up for it.
“We have to be ready to make history,” Skinner said. “We challenge ourselves every day in training to be the team that competes in quarter-finals – and then hopefully a semi-final after that. We know the respect we have between Bayern Munich and Manchester United as two clubs – but when we go on to the field it’ll be the winner takes all. We have to manage both ties, show our maturity, but the challenge of it is fantastic … the energy around these games just hits differently.”
Skinner’s side defeated Paris Saint-Germain in the league phase and have kept eight clean sheets in 12 matches in the tournament, including qualifying rounds, so Bayern and the former Chelsea forward, Pernille Harder, will not underestimate the task ahead. United finished sixth in the league phase, progressing to the last eight with a resounding 5-0 aggregate win against Atlético Madrid Women in their playoff. Tonight’s first leg, and the second at the Allianz Arena in Munich next Wednesday, will be their biggest test yet.
Kick-off: 8pm UK time