The days of German clubs dominating the Women's Champions League are gone. Sunday's final between Barcelona and Chelsea will see a new name on the trophy, but Chelsea's German duo are likely to leave their mark.
Melanie Leupolz and Ann-Katrin Berger have already lifted two trophies with Chelsea this seasonImage: Action Foto Sport/NurPhoto/picture alliance
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Nine of the past 10 Women's Champions Leagues have been shared between two clubs — Wolfsburg and Lyon — while German or French clubs have won 16 of the 19 titles to date.
But the landscape in women's football is changing, and Sunday's final in Gothenburg is evidence that the traditional superpowers have been usurped. Though Germany will be without a team in the final, midfielder Melanie Leupolz and goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger are key components of Emma Hayes' Chelsea side.
In an interview with DW earlier this year, Leupolz said she moved from Bayern Munich to Chelsea because she saw the Women's Super League as "the best in the world."
But until now, that had not been borne out in Europe, with Arsenal's win in 2007 the only English triumph to date. The investment in Chelsea, Manchester City and a number of other WSL sides seems set to change that and, aside from a desire to expand her horizons, the increased ambitions in West London were a motivation for the 27-year-old.
The big stage
"We have big goals and I really like this mentality of Chelsea because they know what we can achieve," she said. "Of course, it’s always nice to beat the good teams. There are so many big teams and therefore you have to be really clinical to get all the points. I want to win many titles. I believe we can win the title."
Leupolz's aims are already being realized, with Chelsea winning their domestic title last week to add to the League Cup, and Leupolz scoring a crucial away goal in the first leg as they knocked out her old side in the Champions League semifinals.
"It's my biggest game at club level, so I'm very excited," she told German press agency SID ahead of Sunday's match. "There are two styles of play: Barcelona with a lot of possession, and us with more physicality, the quick switching of play."
Melanie Leupolz has won 70 caps for Germany and is a key part of the Chelsea teamImage: Andy Rowland/PRIMe Media Images/imago images
Leupolz added that she's not fazed by the task. "It's more a feeling of anticipation, less nervousness. I'm that kind of player, I like the pressure. And I know about the quality in our team," she said.
Despite their domestic success, Chelsea face a significant challenge against the Spanish champions, who lost to Lyon in the 2019 final. Forward Bethany England believes that her side's last line of defense will be crucial.
"We've got to really be on our A-game to stop their threats," she told Sky Sports. "We obviously can't stop everything, but it makes it easier when you've got Ann-Katrin [Berger] in goal, who is like a cat and saves everything."
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Reassuring presence
Leupolz agreed that Berger was a reassuring presence on and off the pitch. "She is a totally calm type, never overexcited, very professional. She is a very honest person and has helped me a lot here, even when moving in," she told SID.
Berger had a more winding route to West London than her compatriot. The 30-year-old goalkeeper left Turbine Potsdam in 2014 and spent two years with Paris Saint-Germain. After struggling to nail down the No. 1 spot she joined Birmingham City. Just six months after reaching the FA Cup final with the Blues, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
"For me it was not a solution to be ill," she told DW in a 2019 interview. "As a sportsperson you have to fight everyday. Even for my position I have to fight every training session to be on the pitch on a Sunday. Goalkeepers have a bad reputation, I don’t know why, as crazy people. I wouldn’t say I am [crazy] but I think the mentality of a goalkeeper helped me through that as well."
Ann-Katrin Berger's battle with cancer
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Berger was back training just 61 days after her successful operation and her iron will has helped her become Chelsea's undisputed No. 1 and win the Golden Glove for the most clean sheets in England's top flight, as well as beating cancer.
While Chelsea's stellar attacking trio of Sam Kerr, Fran Kirby and Pernille Harder often catch the eye, Hayes knows how important Berger is to her side. "She is the best in the world, she's amazing and she did a great job," Hayes said after Chelsea beat Wolfsburg in the quarterfinal.
Pioneers?
Despite their success, and the shift of power in European football, it's still unusual for German women to play abroad. Leupolz told DW she would like to see that change.
"When they [other players] ask me, I have a lot more positive things to say about it than negative ones," she said. "Hopefully it’s a good advertisement for them. It’s really nice to play in another country, see a different style of football. New clubs, new stadiums, everything here is so exciting."
Sunday will bring another new opponent, another country, another stadium and plenty of excitement. Berger, Leupolz and those who back German women's football will hope it also brings a trophy.
50 years of women's football in Germany
As incredible as it sounds today, women's football was once banned in Germany. Since October 31, 1970, when the DFB lifted the ban, Germany has become a leading nation in women's football. Here's a look back.
Image: picture alliance / Pressefoto Ulmer
Ignoring the ban
In 1955 the German football association (DFB) issued a ban on the country's football clubs forming women's teams. Football is "essentially alien to the nature of women," it said in a statement justifying the move. "In the battle for the ball, female grace disappears, body and soul inevitably suffer damage." This didn't stop determined women, like this team in Minden, from playing football anyway.
Image: Leonie Albig-Treffers/picture-alliance
Game on in the East
The DFB's ban on women's football only applied to West Germany. In East Germany, the women were free to play. However, in 1969 the SED, East Germany's ruling communist party, decides that only men's football would be funded and promoted as an elite sport. The East German women's national team would play just one game, losing to the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic 3-0 on May 9, 1990.
Image: FSU-Fotozentrum/picture-alliance
Discriminatory ban abolished
Fifteen years later, the DFB's opposition to women playing the beautiful game crumbled. Here legendary Bayern Munich and West Germany striker Gerd Müller (second from right) tosses the coin before officiating a July 1970 women's match to raise funds for the Deutsche Sporthilfe (German Sports Aid Foundation). On October 31, 1970, the DFB officially abolished the discriminatory ban imposed in 1955.
Image: Parschauer/dpa/picture-alliance
A first for Stuttgart's Neckarstadion
It wasn't long before women were playing on the same fields where only men had been allowed. Here, TSV Öschelbronn face Spielvereinigung Weil im Schönbuch in the first-ever women's match at Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart's home ground, the Neckarstadion. TSV Öschelbronn won the match 3-1.
Image: Michael Dick/picture-alliance
First woman to win German TV's 'Goal of the Month'
However, the DFB still refused to form a women's national team. "This was clearly a setback," remembers West German women's football legend Bärbel Wohlleben. "We were only allowed to play two halves of 30 minutes too." Her club, TuS Wörsstadt won the first official German women's title in 1974. Her goal in the final against DJK Eintracht Erle was voted "Goal of the Month" by viewers of ARD TV.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Roessler
Bergisch-Gladbach: World champions!
SSG Bergisch Gladbach 09 soon emerge as the dominant team in West German women's football, winning nine national titles and three DFB Cup titles between 1977 and 1989. Not only that, but they also represent West Germany at an international invitational tournament in Taiwan, winning what was then seen as the unofficial women's world championship in 1981 and 1984.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Witschel
First match, easy victory
In 1982, the DFB finally gives up its opposition to the formation of a women's national team. On October 10, 1982 the West German women win their first-ever international 5-1 over Switzerland. SSG Bergisch Gladbach 09's Silvia Neid, who would go on to a successful spell as the head coach of the German women's national team, scores a brace.
Image: Sven Simon/picture-alliance
First official international title
In 1989 West Germany hosts the Women's European Championship. The West Germans beat Italy on penalties in the semifinal – the first women's game broadcast live on West German TV. They follow this up with a 4-1 victory over Norway in the final. Here, Julia Nardenbach, Petra Damm and Doris Fitschen (from left) celebrate with the trophy. Germany's women have since won seven more European titles.
Image: Sven Simon/picture-alliance
Siegen win first Bundesliga title
In 1990, the DFB established the Women's Bundesliga, just before reunification, making the 1990-91 season an all-West German affair. Two former East German teams joined the following season. The Bundesliga was split into north and south divisions, with the winners of each qualifying for the final. The first Women's Bundesliga champions were TSV Siegen. The two divisions were merged in 1997.
Image: Imago Images/Horstmüller
German and European domination: 1. FFC Frankfurt
The first European champions were 1. FFC Frankfurt. Here, Nia Künzer (center) is in action against Umea IK in the final of the 2002 UEFA Women's Cup. Frankfurt would go on to win two more in 2006 and 2008. By the time they won the 2015 title, the competition had been remained the Women's Champions League. They also dominated the Bundesliga, winning seven titles between 1999 and 2008.
Image: Frank May/dpaweb/dpa/picture-alliance
Germany's first World Cup champions
In 2003, the German women win their first World Cup title, beating Sweden 2-1 in the final played in Carson, California. Nia Künzer's header in the 98th minute was the Golden Goal that gave Germany the title. As was also the tradition for the men at the time, the world champions were welcomed home with a reception at Frankfurt City Hall, where they were feted by thousands of fans.
Image: Michael Probst/AP Photo/picture-alliance
Birgit Prinz: Three-time Women's Footballer of the Year
The Golden Boot winner with seven goals in six matches was superstar striker Birgit Prinz. She was named World Women's Footballer of the Year three times from 2003 to 2005 and was also named Germany's Women's Footballer of the year eight times. When she hung up her boots in 2011 she had 214 caps and 128 goals to her name, more than any other national team player – woman or man.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Another first
At the 2007 World Cup in China, Germany become the first team to defend a Women's World Cup title – and do so in impressive fashion! Their record is incredible: Six wins and a draw, 21 goals scored, none against. Led by their captain, Birgit Prinz, Germany beat Brazil 2-0 in the final. The bad news is that Germany's women have never reached a World Cup final since.
Image: picture alliance / Pressefoto Ulmer
First Champions League champions
Prior to the 2009-2010 season, the UEFA Women's Cup was rebranded the UEFA Women's Champions League. Another German team would lift the new Champions League trophy. 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam beat Olympique Lyon in a penalty shootout in the final in Getafe – becoming European Champions for a second time after 2005.
Image: Alberto Martin/dpa/picture-alliance
Striking Olympic gold in Rio
Two years after the German men won the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro's legendary Maracana Stadium, the German women beat Sweden 2-1 in the final of the women's 2016 Olympic tournament to win the gold medal in the same venue. This was the first time that Germany had won gold, having had to settle for Olympic bronze medals in 2000, 2004, and 2008.
Image: Reuters/U. Marcelino
Silvia Neid: All there was to win
The 2016 Olympic gold medal in Rio is Silvia Neid's crowning achievement. Having won the European Championship three times as a player, Neid took over as national team coach in 2005. She would lead the team to the 2007 World Cup title, European Championship titles in 2009 and 2013 and finally to Olympic gold in 2016. Three times she was named FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Football.
Image: Getty Images/F.Coffrini
Dominant Wolfsburg
Currently, the dominant team in German women's football are VfL Wolfsburg. Alexandra Popp (photo) and the rest of the women's Wolves have won the double in each of the past four years. Since 2013, the club has won the Bundesliga six times and the DFB Cup seven times. In addition, the club has won the Champions League twice (2013, 2014) and lost in three more finals.
