Wolfsburg beat Inter 2-0 in the first leg of the third qualifying round and take a two-goal lead to Italy. The winners go into the eighteen-team league phase. The losers stay in Europe, in the second qualifying round of the Women’s Europa Cup.
The scoreline finished 2-0 and the attempts finished 23-7. They were not run up over the same ninety minutes.
There was a contest until the 49th minute
Chiara Robustellini was sent off four minutes after the restart.
Up to that point Inter had six attempts and three on target, Wolfsburg eight and five. Lara Prasnikar had put the hosts ahead on 42 minutes from a Svenja Huth pass, and Inter were still coming forward: one of their three efforts on target arrived in the minute straight after the goal.
From the red card to the final whistle, Inter managed one attempt and none on target. Wolfsburg had fifteen and hit the target eight times.
Forty minutes without asking a single question of Stina Johannes.
The second came from a defender
Camilla Küver got it three minutes after the sending-off, from the back four.
What followed was a siege that produced nothing else. Wolfsburg won eight corners to two, kept 59% of the ball and closed with thirteen shots on target against three. Cecilía Rúnarsdóttir is the reason the tie is not already over.
Stephan Lerch took off the two who had settled it: Prasnikar on 63 minutes, Cora Zicai on 76. Zicai had said on Tuesday that a Wolfsburg at full tilt could dominate Inter “without any doubt”.
What is left
The second leg is on Wednesday 2 September at 18:30 at the Stadio Ernesto Breda in Sesto San Giovanni.
Inter need two goals to force extra time, and in the first leg they did not put a shot on target after half-time.
