Champions League returns as City rally from two down

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MANCHESTER CITY rallied from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Bayern Munich on their return to the Women’s Champions League at the start of the league phase on Tuesday night.

Two-time European champions Arsenal needed a stoppage-time winner to defeat HB Koge 1-0 at home, while Inter Milan, making their debut in the competition proper, edged visitors Hacken by the same score.

Benfica won 2-1 at Juventus with a pair of goals by Marit Bratberg Lund, and Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain drew 1-1 in the Spanish capital, with Felicia Schroder scoring for the hosts two minutes into the match and PSG equalising with a second-half penalty scored by Sakina Karchaoui.

Bayern, semi-finalists last season, got off to a quick start with Giulia Gwinn scoring in the 11th minute and with an own-goal by Kerstin Casparij in the 28th.

City began to rally just before half-time, with Beth Mead netting in the 45th. Carlotta Wamser, who just joined City from Bayer Leverkusen, completed the comeback with a shot from inside the area in the 86th for her first Champions League goal.

“It feels very special. It’s a dream as a kid to play in the Champions League and play against the best players in the world,” Wamser said to Uefa.com.

Forward Khadija Shaw missed a 62nd-minute penalty kick for City, who became the first British team not to lose away to Bayern in Europe.

“We lost intensity a bit in the second half and made too many mistakes and too easy mistakes, and at this level it goes against you, so we have to learn from it,” Bayern midfielder Linda Dallmann said. “We had the chances, especially at the end, we had two big chances. At this level, you have to score. I think we deserved it at the end. But it’s our fault, we have to work on that.”

City made it to the quarter-finals two seasons ago, eventually eliminated by Chelsea, but didn’t qualify for the European tournament last season.

“We want to show what we’re about in Europe,” Mead said. “We showed that in the second half here, now we need to do it for 90 minutes. Obviously it’s a very different competition compared to domestic football. Hopefully we can get up to speed quickly and show what we’re about against Madrid [in the next game].”

City made it back after their first year under coach Andree Jeglertz, who helped the team end Chelsea’s dominance of the Women’s Super League to claim their first league title in a decade. City also won the FA Cup to complete a domestic double.

They will now turn their focus to Real Madrid, with the two giants of the women’s game set to face off in a blockbuster clash on October 1 at Manchester Regional Arena.

Arsenal, 2024-25 champions, were headed to a goalless draw against Danish club HB Koge at home when Mariona Caldentey converted a penalty kick three minutes into stoppage time.

HB Koge, playing in the competition for the first time since the 2021-22 season, withstood the Arsenal pressure for most of the match until conceding the late penalty.

“For the whole 90 minutes, we worked so hard,” Arsenal midfielder Kyra Cooney-Cross said. “We never give up. We are a hard-working team and we always want to score goals, create chances, but at the moment it is quite difficult. We got the three points and that is all that matters.”

The Gunners will travel to face Paris FC next Wednesday. The French side took on Barcelona at Camp Nou last night after the Morning Star went to print.

Haley Bugeja scored five minutes into the match and Inter held on for their opening victory over Swedish club Hacken.

Bugeja is the first Maltese player to appear in a Champions League group stage/league phase game, men or women, Uefa said.

“It was special for us, and special to see how maturely we played. We scored early and then we took a step back, but I’m very happy about our second half,” Inter coach David Sassarini said. “I am happy about the win. We showed we can play in this competition, and the ambition now is to improve on certain things and keep it up.”

The visitors saw goalkeeper Jennifer Falk sent off in the 89th.

Inter, making their debut after advancing through a penalty shootout win over Wolfsburg, twice hit the post with headers by Elisa Bartoli and Lina Magull.

“It was so special for me to captain Inter on such a historic night,” Inter captain Irene Santi said. “It was incredible, and we played so well as a team.”

Hacken defender Aivi Luik was the oldest group stage/league phase player at 41, according to Uefa.

“I don’t think about my record,” she said. “I still feel young. The secret is coffee and chocolate. It wasn’t the result we wanted, we could have equalised but we didn’t and now we look forward to the next matches.”

Inter will have their sights set on another victory when they take on Austria Wien on October 1.

The league phase, in its second year, has 18 teams competing over six match days. The top four advance directly to the quarter-finals and the clubs finishing between fifth and 12th compete in knockout phase play-offs in February.