Winning the title
“Emotional rollercoaster”: Bayern player Gwinn deeply touched
Bayern Munich’s President Herbert Hainer hugs Giulia Gwinn after winning the German championship. photo
© Marius Becker/dpa
Giulia Gwinn has already been German soccer champion twice, but both times the titles were overshadowed by injuries. Not this time, which is why this title is very special for her.
“This championship means the world to me because it’s the first one where I’m on the pitch and was able to really do my part,” said the 24-year-old after the decisive 2-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen: “In the last two I was only allowed to play two or three games, then I was injured. This time I managed to be fit for the whole season, so it’s an emotional rollercoaster for me now , if you’re really part of it.”
The full-back with well over half a million Instagram followers was already part of the squad at the Bayern championships in 2021 and 2023. But both times her season ended early after torn cruciate ligaments. Once in September and once in October. This time she appeared on the pitch 19 times in 20 games, 18 of them in the starting line-up, and contributed three goals and two assists.
Despite the great relief, Gwinn didn’t want to celebrate too much with a view to the cup final against long-term rivals VfL Wolfsburg in Cologne on Thursday. “We are all professional enough to know that it wouldn’t be the smartest thing to party now,” she said with a laugh: “There is nothing greater for an athlete than in a final like this against such an opponent in front of such a crowd “Many of us haven’t been there for a long time or have never been there at all, so we don’t need any extra motivation.” Wolfsburg recently won the cup nine times in a row.