Bühl puts Germany ahead in Women’s Nations League semi-final tie

Klara Bühl’s solitary strike helped Germany to a first-leg win over France in the UEFA Women’s Nations League semi-final tie.

Germany started the game brightly as Pauline Peyraud-Magnin had to make a couple of saves inside the first three minutes from the returnee Nicole Anyomi and Sjoeke Nüsken. With injuries to key players, Christian Wück had to tinker with his side.

Camilla Küver earns her debut to partner with Kathrin Hendrich in defense, while Bayer Leverkusen’s fullback Carlotta Wamser starts as a right winger. The changes saw the influential Jule Brand play as a number ten behind Anyomi, who wasn’t part of the squad for Euro 2025.

France quickly recovered after their sluggish start. However, Les Bleues struggled to cope with the in-form Klara Bühl on Germany’s left side. Laurent Bonadei has only made a couple of changes from the side that started the quarter-final defeat to Germany last summer.

Delphine Cascarino was the first to test Wolfsburg’s goalkeeper Stina Johannes at the midpoint of the first-half. Ten minutes later, they did score with a brilliant finish from Marie-Antoinette Katoto, but the goal didn’t stand because of an offside in the buildup.

Germany struggled to create chances until Nüsken narrowly missed the target with a well-timed header ten minutes after the restart. A minute later, Anymoi missed a glorious chance from a close range.

In a game of few chances, the next two big chances also went in the direction of Nüsken, who took the captain’s armband after Giulia Gwinn’s substitution. However, the Chelsea midfielder was unable to break the deadlock.

Melvine Malard was very close to doing so within seconds of entering as a substitute before Johannes pulled the best save of the evening from Kadidiatou Diani’s shot from close range.

Just when the two teams started to think about the return leg, Bühl took matters into her hands. The Bayern Munich winger scored from outside the box with a ferocious shot to put Germany in a favorable position in the tie. The hosts pushed for the second goal after that, but France managed to keep the score interesting.

The two teams will meet again in Caen on Tuesday for a chance to meet either Spain or Sweden in the final. There will also be a third-place playoff tie in a similarly two-legged format next month.