Tom HamiltonMar 25, 2026, 06:54 PM ET
Close • Joined ESPN in 2011• Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours• Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018Multiple Authors
MANCHESTER, England — Bayern Munich‘s wonderful forward Pernille Harder grew up in a Manchester United household. Her father supports the club, so naturally she followed in his footsteps. She remembers Ryan Giggs’ goal against Arsenal in 1999, and her dad frequently giving her updates on how fellow Dane Peter Schmeichel was doing in goal for the club.
But unfortunately for United, that passion for the club has morphed later in life into Harder’s uncanny ability to score against them. On a freezing night, she scored near-identical goals in each half at Old Trafford and though United fought back on both occasions, Momoko Tanikawa‘s 83rd-minute winner gave the German side a 3-2 win and a firm hold on the tie ahead of the return leg in Munich next week.
It wasn’t meant to be like this from a United perspective. Marc Skinner’s pre-match message to the Manchester United players ahead of one of the biggest nights in the women’s team’s history was to “maximize the moment.”
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He wanted his team to embrace everything that came with their UEFA Women’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Bayern Munich: to walk tall in Old Trafford and write their own page in the rich history of this fixture between the two clubs. He said they had to fight from the first until the last minute.
And then United conceded after 98 seconds. Their defense was bisected by a single ball from Arianna Caruso, leaving Harder with what seemed like eons to pick her spot and give Bayern the lead.
Everyone has a plan until you’re punched in the face and all that. Perhaps by the time United’s players had compartmentalized all the pre-match messaging and done their best to mentally set themselves for such an occasion, the first jab floored them.
But credit to United, they pulled themselves together, got off the canvas, and a handball from Bayern captain Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir gave Maya Le Tissier a chance to draw things level. But from there, United never really took charge of the match, remaining reactive rather than ever being on the front foot.
This is all uncharted territory for this group of United players in what is their first foray in the Champions League. Every match is a raw experience. And on top of that, you feel they’re navigating a lot of this with one hand tied behind their back, such is the paper-thin nature of their squad.
Tonight they were without key players Ella Toone, Anna Sandberg, Dominique Janssen, Leah Galton and Ellen Wangerheim.
Their midfielder Hinata Miyazawa won the Asian Cup for Japan in Sydney on Saturday, arrived back on Monday, trained Tuesday and played tonight. She’s the heartbeat of the team. All of those absentees left Skinner with an easy decision over which team to pick, given he only had five outfield players on the bench.
So it was a familiar refrain when Tanikawa sent another through ball in and around the heart of United’s defense to give Harder time again to make it 2-1 in the 71st minute. United only needed five minutes to strike back with Hanna Lundkvist heading home a corner, but at this point, you felt United had expended all their energy.
Manchester United will look to reverse a 3-2 deficit against Bayern Munich and continue in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. (Photo by Poppy Townson – MUFC/Manchester United via Getty Images)It was a frantic match, and at times sloppy and scrappy, but Bayern still had a gear or two, and it was no surprise to see Tanikawa stroke home a beautiful winner with six minutes left. Advantage Bayern, but United aren’t completely out of it.
United’s budget is far lower than their Women’s Super League rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, who played last night in their quarterfinal at the Emirates, so it is to their immense credit that they’ve progressed this far, especially given this journey started back on Aug. 27 with a qualifying match against PSV. Then came their group stage, where they beat Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, but fell to OL Lyonnes and Wolfsburg.
So with Bayern coming to town, a team unbeaten in 12 and sitting atop the Frauen-Bundesliga with an 11-point advantage, United were underdogs. But despite their awful start, they didn’t give an inch from thereon in, but it always felt like Bayern were the better team.
Harder is United’s bête noire. She has five goals and two assists in eight appearances against them across both her time at Chelsea (2020-23) and this match with Bayern.
You’d have thought they’d have learnt that if you give her an inch, she takes a goal. She was ruthless, while Georgia Stanway was industrious in midfield, and Franziska Kett was also outstanding. And all that without the brilliant Klara Bühl and Lena Oberdorf. At times, Bayern looked a little bit sluggish, as their passes weren’t quite on point and the odd lapse let United have more time in front of goal than they should have been afforded.
Perhaps that’s what happens when you have a huge lead at the top of the league and you’re swiping aside opponents week after week. Their 20 or so fans who travelled were vocal throughout, sometimes the only voice booming out from the sole stand with spectators, though their rendition of “Football’s Coming Home” in the closing stages was a little strange.
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For United, Lea Schüller‘s form in front of goal remains a concern. She was signed from Bayern to be their new focal point up front, but she has a meager return of just one goal so far, which came against third-tier Burnley in the FA Cup.
Again, she rallied against Bayern and got through an awful lot of work, but just couldn’t get the breakthrough. Le Tissier got through an awful lot of work in defense, while Julia Zigiotti Olme was their best player in midfield. Jess Park showed some great flourishes off the wing, but United ultimately didn’t have the firepower to convert from open play.
Two set-piece goals was a decent return from the chances created, but they have to find more oomph up front if they are to win in Munich.
The nostalgia of this fixture was inescapable; it’s just a shame there weren’t more fans there to soak it in. The attendance of 7,513 left oceans of empty seats in Old Trafford, and judging from the TV screens in the press box, it would’ve made sense to fill the TV arc on the far side of the stadium to at least show this match wasn’t a throwback to the pandemic days of sparse stadiums.
However, to those who did turn up watched a United team that did heed Skinner’s wish of fighting to the bitter end. The only issue for United was that Bayern just had a touch more class, and a player in Harder who loves scoring against them.
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