Historical drama: DFB women fail against Spain in the European Championship semi-finals!

Historical drama: DFB women fail against Spain in the European Championship semi-finals!

In the semi-finals of the 2025 Women's European Championship, Germany is losing out to Spain. After an exciting but goalless duel that lasted 120 minutes, the DFB women ultimately conceded a bitter 0-1 with a goal from Aitana Bonmati in extra time. This means that Spain reaches the final of the Women's European Championship for the first time. In the final, the team will face the defending champions from England, who prevailed in the other semi-final. 

The game started promisingly for Germany. Klara Bühl had the first chance in the 8th minute, but was denied by Spain goalkeeper Cata Coll. It wasn't until the 22nd minute that Spain got serious for the first time. Esther Gonzalez broke through dangerously, but Ann-Katrin Berger was on guard and parried the ball strongly. Shortly before half-time, Spain put more pressure on the German goal: a free kick from Pina did not find its way into the net, while Paredes was unlucky with a shot off the post (45th minute). The half-time score was 0-0, although Spain had the upper hand with 78 percent possession.

Defensively strong Germans

In the second half, the German defense stabilized, while the offense was only able to cause sporadic danger. Giovanna Hoffmann had a chance to head the ball at the third attempt (46th minute), but it didn't have the desired result either. Klara Bühl made a good move and made a dangerous move in the 63rd minute - but Coll showed her class again and saved. Coach Christian Wück tried to provide more offense with the substitution of Linda Dallmann.

In the 85th minute, a free kick from Bühl blew just past the right post and made the hearts of the German fans beat faster. However, it wasn't meant to be. In stoppage time, Paralluelo narrowly missed a similar opportunity and missed it. A perfect counter-attack opportunity, which resulted from a deflected shot from Bühl, also ended in the hands of Coll.

A drama in extra time

Extra time began with a scary minute for Germany when Sophia Kleinherne was injured and had to be substituted (95th minute). In the 113th minute the time had come: Aitana Bonmati took advantage of an opportunity from a tight angle to score the decisive goal for Spain - an unfortunate collision that presented Berger with a major challenge meant the end for the DFB women.

Germany is therefore eliminated from the tournament and a new champion will be crowned in the next round. Despite the disappointment, fans remained optimistic and are excited to see how the future of women's football develops. For Spain, however, reaching the final is a historic day that will be recorded in the football history book.

For more information about the semi-finals and the events surrounding the tournament, you can read the reports on ZDF and Olympics read up.