The Women’s Cup Preview
The inaugural Women’s Cup will take place in Louisville, Kentucky, at Lynn Family Stadium from August 18-21. The tournament will include the hosts Racing Louisville FC, the Chicago Red Stars, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain, all looking to take home the champion title.
Schedule
Wednesday, August 18 Semifinals
Bayern Munich vs. Paris Saint-Germain at 5 PM ET
Chicago Red Stars vs. Racing Louisville at 7:30 PM ET
The final will take place on Saturday, August 21, after a third-place game.
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Racing Louisville
The NWSL newcomers have a bit of a learning curve, but they are building chemistry and playing better each week. Their first NWSL season has come with bumps in the road, with them currently holding a 4-6-2 record, with three of those four wins coming at Lynn Family Stadium. Their record has them in ninth place of the league standings.
They have added key players throughout the season bringing in Ebony Salmon, Gemma Bonner, and Nadia Nadim. Since joining Louisville, Salmon has appeared in eight games, starting six while also scoring four goals. Nadim opened her scoring account with Racing in their 3-1 win over Kansas City on August 8. Both players have been instrumental in the attack since coming to the NWSL. Nadim could potentially play against her former team in PSG for the trophy.
Chicago Red Stars
The Chicago Red Stars were on a bit of a hot streak, winning four of their last five before falling to the Orlando Pride at home. However, Chicago’s biggest struggle this season has been consistently finding the back of the net.
In July, five of the Red Star’s 10 goals were own goals. They currently sit in fifth place of the standings with a 6-6-2 record.
So far this season, their top players are Mallory Pugh and Morgan Gautrat. Pugh has been the orchestrator of most offensive threats for the Red Stars. Pugh has scored three goals and added two assists in 12 starts for Chicago. Gautrat has been the maestro of the midfield, tracking back and being an important piece on both sides of the ball.
In the Red Star’s last meeting with Racing Louisville, Louisville came away with a 3-0 victory.
Bayern Munich
Bayern is coming off of a great 2020-21 campaign where they won the Frauen Bundesliga and made it to the UEFA Women’s Champions League semifinals.
They finished the Bundesliga season with a 20-1-1 record, with their only loss coming to Wolfsburg.
German international Lea Schüller led the team in scoring 19 goals in all competitions. Laura Benkarth is the leader of the defense, playing in all but two games last season. She had 16 clean sheets on the season.
Paris Saint-Germain
PSG is another team that had a very successful 2020-21 season. They won the Division 1 Féminine title for the first time in club history, going 20-0-2. Making them the first club that isn’t Olympique Lyon that has won the league since 2006.
The club boasts a ton of international talent, including two Canadian internationals, Ashley Lawrence and Jordyn Huitema, who are coming off winning gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In 2019, PSG and Bayern met in a friendly, with the French side coming away with a 2-1 victory.
Featured image via @thewomenscup on Twitter
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