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Women’s football: Champions crowned, but not in the Bundesliga
Champions are being crowned across the continent, but Bayern and Wolfsburg are still battling it out for Bundesliga champion. A look at this week's talking points from women's football.
Champions are being crowned across the continent, but Bayern and Wolfsburg are still battling it out for Bundesliga champion. A look at this week's talking points from women's football.
No sign of the Blues for Chelsea
In England, Chelsea have been crowned champions for a second season running after beating Reading 5-0 on Sunday. It was an impressive run to the title by the Blues, who ended the campaign two points clear of Manchester City. Their consistency played a huge role in a league that has become increasingly competitive as more investment is made into the women's game. Chelsea swept the board though, as they also got to crown German keeper Ann-Katrin Berger with the Golden Glove and Australian goal getter Sam Kerr with the Golden Boot after netting 21 goals in 22 games. Now, Emma Haye's team have one last task ahead of them in the Champions League final on May 16.
Barcelona's dominance delivers
Their opponents FC Barcelona will be just as confident having also retained their league title thanks to a perfect record of 26 wins from 26 games – a new record in Spain's top tier. Dating back to last season, they have now won 30 matches in a row, equaling rival Levante's record across the 2000-01 and 2001-02 campaigns. It's their second consecutive title and sixth in the club's history, but there is still a big gap in the Spanish league. Atletico Madrid, who competed in the Champions League, sit in seventh place while Real Madrid are third behind Levante and Barcelona. The league has big ambitions, but Barcelona is far and away the best team in the country and, if they want to change the guard, the other 17 teams must start investing to close the gap.
Juventus make history
There was no changing of the guard in Italy either, where Juventus Women made history once again by claiming their fourth consecutive Serie A title with two games to spare after defeating Napoli 2-0 on Saturday.
"We'll enjoy the celebrations now, then sit down calmly to decide where to go from here, obviously putting the best interests of the club before anything else. One word to describe this title? Courage," head coach Stefano Braghin told reporters because, while the league might not be as competitive, Juventus' ambitions for more remain the same.
Tense finish in the Bundesliga?
The title race in Germany, on the other hand, remains as exciting as ever ― or does it? In the most eagerly anticipated game of the season, second placed VfL Wolfsburg took on league leaders Bayern Munich, but both sides had to settle for a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw. As a result, Bayern are still two points (55) ahead of Wolfsburg (52) with two gamedays left to play.
"The point is extremely important because we continue to have everything in our own hands. We showed the right mentality today and didn't allow ourselves to be intimidated. Now we're two points ahead and of course we want to win the whole thing in the end,” said Bayern coach Jens Scheuer.
Wolfsburg have two chances at silverware
Wolfsburg haven't given up hope of maintaining their streak of dominance in Germany. The last time Bayern won the title was back in 2016 and they're set to play Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt in the last two league games while Wolfsburg have Eintracht Frankfurt as well and Werder Bremen ahead of them. While the Wolves may have to concede the championship after missing the chance to go top, they will still have the chance to get their hands on silverware when they play Frankfurt in the German Cup final on May 30th.