“No need to panic”: Skinner praises “brave” United Women, gives rallying call ahead of vital second leg versus Bayern

Manchester United Women suffered a disappointing defeat to Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. Story of the match The Red Devils lost 3-2 after falling behind on three separate occasions. Goals from Maya Le Tissier and Swedish full-back Hanna Lundkvist brought United back into the tie, but conceding a late third goal put Bayern in the driving seat. United will now travel to Germany next week, knowing that only a win will take them into the semi-final. After the game, head coach Marc Skinner spoke to club media about the loss. Proud Reflecting on how the match played out, Skinner stated, “I’m really proud of the players and how they approached the game—especially how they controlled it in possession. I felt we were the better team with the ball, but they were more ruthless with their chances.” He did admit that he was unhappy with the manner in which his side’s defence was breached and commented, “there are a few goals we’ll need to assess—we’re not happy with them, to be honest. But that’s football. It’s halftime in the tie, and while we’re behind, there’s no need to panic.” Skinner added that conceding so early was a wake-up call for his side, even though it was far from ideal. Confidence The manager also revealed that they will address the weakness of Bayern players running through the centre of the park unchallenged and asserted for the second leg, “if we can limit those central chances, I believe we’ll create enough to win the game.” Transfers Skinner also hinted that it has been a challenge to rotate and play so many games, with a tough match against Manchester City coming up on Sunday before the trip to Germany on Wednesday for the return leg. He asserted, “we won’t make excuses. There are reasons, but our job is to find solutions.” Skinner warmed, “if we want to go this deep again next season, we may need to look at squad depth.” Featured image Maja Hitij via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.