Bayern München vs Lyon Women's Champions League preview: Where to watch, starting line-ups

Bayern München and Lyon meet in the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday 18 March at FC Bayern Campus.

What do you need to know?

These teams have previously met in a quarter-final, when the 2019/20 last eight onwards was reformatted into a one-venue tournament due to COVID and Lyon defeated Bayern 2-1 in Bilbao on their way to lifting the trophy for the fifth straight year and seventh overall. The eighth title-winning campaign two years later also featured Lyon versus Bayern, the teams meeting in the 2021/22 group stage and exchanging home wins.

Under new coach Joe Montemurro, last season's runners-up Lyon managed six wins out of six in a group for the first time this season, including two defeats of Wolfsburg, and have since signed Brazil defender Tarciane. Bayern started the group stage in style when Pernille Harder's hat-trick helped them defeat Arsenal 5-2. Harder (who scored in but lost the 2018 final against Lyon when she was at Wolfsburg) was to finish as group stage top scorer, but Arsenal overhauled Bayern for first place. However, they have hit domestic form and gained a crucial 2-1 win against Wolfsburg on Friday with a Harder double.

They are facing former Bayern player Sara Däbritz, who helped them to the first of their two semi-finals in 2018/19, when Carolin Simon was at Lyon prior to moving to Munich and scoring against OL in 2020. Bayern goalkeeper Maria-Luisa Grohs, who underwent surgery on a malignant tumour in December, has now returned. Lyon's Lindsey Horan is now known as Heaps after her December marriage.

Form guide

Bayern
Last six games: WWWWWW
Last match: Bayern 3-1 Wolfsburg, 14/03, Frauen Bundesliga
Where they stand: 1st in Frauen Bundesliga, German Cup semi-finals

Lyon
Last six games: WWWWWD
Last match: Lyon 8-1 Stade de Reims, 14/03, Première Ligue
Where they stand: 1st in Première Ligue

Starting line-ups

Bayern: Grohs; Gwinn, Sembrant, Eriksson, Hansen; Zadrazil, Caruso; Dallmann, Harder, Bühl; Schüller

Lyon: Endler; Carpenter, Gilles, Renard, Bacha; Marozsán, Heaps, Egurrolla; Diani, Dumornay, Chawinga

View from the camps

Alexander Straus, Bayern coach: "We obviously have a strategy [to stop Lyon], but we also have the best defensive record in the Bundesliga. It is not going to be easy; they have very good individual players. We will try and defend against them the best way we can and what we believe will work.

"This is about something bigger for us than this game and the next game; we need to build something that will last a long time and we need to continue to build our identity against top European teams. Sometimes we are successful in that, sometimes we struggle. We struggled the first year to play the way we wanted against the best, but over the last three seasons we have got better and better."

Carolin Simon, Bayern defender: "It was some time ago that I played for Lyon but not much has changed; they are still a world-class team with a lot of individual quality. We definitely believe we can [win the title]. We also know that many factors are involved in being able to play in a Champions League final. You need to be on good form, and have a bit of luck. I would never say that's unrealistic."

Joe Montemurro, Lyon coach: "We're anticipating a tough match. Bayern have a very good team with physical players who are good on the ball. We'll have to be at our best to win. Our collective spirit is important in both defence and attack. We're in the last eight, so all the teams are very motivated and in with a chance of lifting the trophy."

Dzsenifer Marozsán, Lyon midfielder: "We know that Bayern are a good team full of quality, but we have quality too. We've already shown that this season, and we want to leave here with victory. It's special for me to come back to Germany, especially to Munich. It's very cold, but we'll adapt. All the teams involved want to win the Champions League."

Where is the 2025 Women's Champions League final?

Getty Images

Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon will stage the 2025 UEFA Women's Champions League final on Saturday 24 May.

The home of Sporting CP opened in 2003 ahead of UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal, replacing another stadium of the same name. It hosted a semi-final of that tournament, among other games, and was the venue for the UEFA Cup decider the following year.

The 2025 final will be the second Women's Champions League showpiece to be held in Lisbon after 2014, when Estádio do Restelo staged Wolfsburg's 4-3 win against Tyresö.