Frankfurt win, Bayern held, Slavia soar
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
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Champions Frankfurt began their defence with victory at Standard Liège while there were thrilling wins for Slavia Praha and Verona in Wednesday's round of 32 first legs.
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- Holders Frankfurt start defence with win at Standard Liège
- Verona edge nine-goal thriller, Brescia defeat Liverpool
- Swedish duo Rosengård and KIF Örebro both win away from home
- Remaining first legs on Thursday, with Lyon, Paris, Wolfsburg and Chelsea in action
- All second legs next Wednesday or Thursday (Thursday marked with * below)
Standard Liège 0-2 FFC Frankfurt*
Holders Frankfurt are on course for the round of 16 after establishing a two-goal first-leg lead in Belgium. Sophie Schmidt opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Davina Philtjens fouled Ana-Maria Crnogorčević in the area, and Kerstin Garefrekes added a second four minutes from time for Colin Bell's team.
FC Twente 1-1 Bayern München
German champions Bayern snatched a draw and a potentially crucial late away goal thanks to Melanie Leupolz 85th-minute drive. Renate Jansen had lobbed in the opener from just outside the box 30 minutes in but the visitors dominated long spells and eventually earned a draw to take back to Bavaria.
Brescia 1-0 Liverpool
Sara Gama's 28th-minute goal punctuated a tight opening to the game, a speculative effort from 40 metres which Danielle Gibbons fumbled into her own goal. A confident Brescia nearly doubled their lead when Barbara Bonansea struck the post. Liverpool's best chance came early in the second half when Natasha Dowie scooped the ball over.
St. Pölten-Spratzern 4-5 Verona*
Verona won a classic first leg. Camilla Larsen and Tatiana Bonetti put the visitors two up but the hosts surged into a 3-2 lead with three goals in eight first-half minutes. Valeria Pirone squared it up before the break and put the Italian side into a 73rd-minute lead. Viktoria Pinther equalised again for the home side before Melania Gabbiadini's 82nd-minute winner.
PK-35 Vantaa 0-2 Rosengård
Quarter-finalists for three of the last four seasons, Rosengård were given a tough examination in Sweden but prevailed thanks to an early strike by Amanda Ilestadt and a second by captain Lina Nilsson.
PAOK 0-3 KIF Örebro
Debutants Örebro made it a Swedish double with victory in Greece. The visitors dominated but took 47 minutes for Sanna Talonen to break the deadlock after Marina Pettersson-Engström's free-kick was parried into the path of the Finland striker. Pettersson-Engström converted a penalty on the hour and substitue Sejde Abrahamsson made it 3-0 just before the end after PAOK's Elena Dimitrijević had received a second yellow card.
BIIK-Kazygurt 1-1 FC Barcelona
A year on from holding Frankfurt 2-2 with a late equaliser, Kazakhstan's BIIK did it again as an 82nd-minute corner by Norway forward Lisa Marie-Woods was carried over her own line by Barcelona goalkeeper Sandra Paños. Barcelona got their away goal on 57 minutes when Melanie Serrano's superb cross was turned in by Ruth García.
Atlético Madrid 0-2 Zorkiy*
Zorkiy took advantage of their only chances of a match dominated by the debutant home side as they gained the upper hand in their tie with Atlético. Anastasia Slonova struck twice on the counterattack to make the difference despite the Spanish side's best efforts, Sonia Bermudez going close on a number of occasions.
Stjarnan 1-3 Zvezda-2005*
Zvezda knocked out Stjarnan at this stage last season and history looks like repeating itself after they earned a good lead in Iceland. Olha Boychenko and Daryna Apanaschenko put the Russian side into a two-goal lead inside 13 minutes before Rúna Sif Stefánsdóttir responded. Olesya Kurochkina restored the two-goal cushion in the 32nd minute, leaving Stjarnan with a huge task to make the round of 16.
Slavia Praha 4-1 Brøndby
The Czech hosts shocked last season's semi-finalists as they recovered from Louise Kristiansen's sixth-minute opener to establish a healthy lead at the tie's halfway point. Petra Divišová scored two in six minutes before the visitors lost Stine Larsen to a red card in the 22nd minute. Andrea Budošová immediately punished the Danish side and Jitka Chlastáková added a fourth. Kateřina Svitková provided all four assists.
LSK Kvinner 1-0 FC Zürich
On the brink of retaining the Norwegian title, LSK established a slender first-leg lead. The visitors hit the woodwork twice within a few first-half seconds while the hosts struck the post shortly after the restart. Isabelle Bachor's neat lob won it in the 63rd minute and the home side held on to the win despite Isabell Herlovsen's late red card.
Reporters: Giovanni de Paola, Timen Llurba, Ben Gladwell, Paris Ayiomamitis, Yegor Sozinov, Marcos Prieto, Ondřej Zlámal & Jukka Malm.
Thursday's first legs
Chelsea v Glasgow City
ZFK Minsk v Fortuna Hjørring
Spartak Subotica v Wolfsburg
Medyk Konin v Olympique Lyonnais
Olimpia Cluj v Paris Saint-Germain
Road to Milan
Round of 16 draw: 19 October
Round of 16: 11/12 November & 18/19 November
Quarter-final & Semi-final draw: 27 November
Quarter-finals: 23/24 & 30/31 March
Semi-finals: 23/24 & 30 April/1 May
Final (Reggio Emilia): 26 May