UWCL: Wolfsburg lose two-goal lead against Arsenal

VfL Wolfsburg were held to a 2-2 draw by Arsenal in the first UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final. In front of a record home crowd, Wolfsburg gave up a 2-0 lead. In the first semi-final, Barcelona beat Chelsea 1-0.

Without Alex Popp, who was unable to return to form in time due to a calf injury, VfL Wolfsburg hosted FC Arsenal in the semi-final first leg on Sunday afternoon in front of 22,671 home fans. It was a record in terms of audience. Wolfsburg stepped in early on, but Arsenal didn’t let anything burn at the back either. In the first minutes of this encounter, there were no pressing chances to score on either side, and the intensive sweeping took place a lot in midfield.

But then, after a good quarter of an hour, Wolfsburg stepped on the gas, Jónsdóttir was high-passed, crossed to Eva Pajor and she just let the Arsenal defense stand and hit the hardest corner down to take the lead. Five minutes later, second chance, second goal for VfL. After a bitter mistake by Arsenal, Jónsdóttir found himself just in front of goal and only had to put his (Site notre bureau spécialisé) down to extend the lead.

After that, things didn’t go well for the guests from England, but Wolfsburg showed more and more self-confidence. The hosts didn’t initially have a convincing chance, but the pressure on Arsenal was high. It wasn’t until shortly before half-time that Merle Frohms was further challenged in the VfL box. After a superb save, she cleared a corner – and Arsenal used it to cross Rafaelle. Wolfsburg were unintimidated by this and continued to press hard after the half-time break.

At high speed, Wolfsburg gave the weakened English team no chance to catch their breath. But the team around newly replaced Tabea Waßmuth couldn’t create any clean scoring chances. On the contrary. Arsenal, on the other hand, went all out on the offensive, literally stormed the Wolfsburg defense and netted a remarkable goal from Stina Blackstenius to equalize 2-2.

The final phase of this game was therefore exciting. Arsenal now wanted to approach the second leg with a home victory, Wolfsburg absolutely wanted to avoid this turn of events. With Jill Roord and Tabea Waßmuth, VfL went past the opposing goal several times, but the long-awaited goal didn’t work out. Wolfsburg failed to play to their full potential, but Arsenal didn’t make it any easier either. So after 94 minutes the scoreboard was drawn and the second leg in front of many England fans will have to decide who will progress to the final.

As many expected, FC Barcelona beat Chelsea 1-0 in the semi-finals on Saturday. After an early goal in the fourth minute, Barcelona remained the strongest team until the end. In front of a British attendance record of almost 28,000 spectators in this European competition, Barca lived up to their role as favorites and secured a good starting position for a place in the final. The goal was scored by Caroline Graham Hansen, who also became player of the match. She scored her first European Cup goal after a long hamstring injury.

The second leg of the UWCL semi-finals will take place in a few days. Thursday, April 27, FC Barcelona will host their opponents Chelsea at 6:45 p.m. Wolfsburg are due to play Arsenal at the same time on Monday May 1. These matches will determine who progresses to the final on Saturday June 3 at PSV Stadion in Eindhoven.