Women's Champions League: Unfriendly reception

There were only a few minutes left until halftime when men's football interfered with women's football - or fans of men's football. Although the presumption of innocence initially applies in this case, there are already strong indications that it was supporters of SpVgg Unterhaching who threw two smoke pots onto the field during FC Bayern Munich's women's Champions League game against Manchester City on Tuesday evening.

Because one fog pot produced blue smoke, the other red: the colors of the playing association. The supporters of the regional league team also have a motive, after all, FC Bayern bought the Unterhaching sports park at the beginning of this year in order to locate its women's department there - which not all of the fans of the small neighbor liked.

What would normally have remained a side note became more important because the smoke pots, presumably thrown from outside the stadium, remained near the corner flag. Bayern goalkeeper Ena Mahmutovic complained, but referee Olatz Rivera Olmedo did not interrupt the game. City's Kerstin Casparij dribbled directly past the blue smoke and set up Beth Mead's 1-2 goal (45'). "The Bengalo has been on the pitch for a long time. Everyone is looking there, some of them have already switched off. Then you have to interrupt. This is incredibly poorly managed by the referee," said Bayern director Bianca Rech angrily.

After the Bayern women dominated ManCity in the first half and deservedly led 2-0 with a goal from Giulia Gwinn and an own goal from Casparij, the balance of power changed after the goal. Mahmutovic first parried a penalty from Khadija Shaw (62'), but in the 86th minute German international Carlotta Wamser scored the goal to make the final score 2-2.

Wamser, of all people, who FC Bayern is said to have been interested in in the summer. While Munich was apparently not prepared to meet Bayer Leverkusen's transfer demands, Manchester City paid an estimated 650,000 euros for the full-back. The 22-year-old became a symbol of what the Bundesliga sees as a bad trend: more and more stars are leaving the league and moving to England. FC Bayern also had to let Georgia Stanway move to Arsenal.

The Women’s Super League has gained a sporting and financial advantage over the Bundesliga. It is clear that the English league currently has more quality, Rech said before the game, "you have to acknowledge that without envy. The question is: How do we manage to give them more competition in the short and medium term?"

One measure is the spin-off of the newly founded league association FBL from the DFB, which was completed last week. The aim is to market the Bundesliga better so that the clubs can catch up financially. What makes the draw even more annoying is that a victory for FC Bayern over England's champions would have been a strong sign of the competitiveness of German women's football.

“In the end, the result is okay. But of course we had hoped for more,” complained Klara Bühl. The start of the league phase of the Champions League was at least a small setback for the Munich team's ambitions, as they should finally make it to the final this season.

The Unterhaching sports park plays a central role in FC Bayern's plans to reach for the stars in the Champions League and keep stars like Bühl in Munich. A state-of-the-art performance center is to be built there by 2029; the 15,000-person stadium will provide a suitable stage for international encounters.

Which is why it was a bit disappointing that only 4,291 fans came to the competitive premiere on Tuesday. In this context, Rech referred to a “counter-event in the city”, she meant the Oktoberfest. This disruptive factor will soon be eliminated, the Oktoberfest will be over when Real Madrid travel to Unterhaching for their next home game on October 28th. We can only hope that there will be no disruptions from outside.