“That looks painful just to watch!” FC Bayern and the DFB are deeply concerned about Giulia Gwinn after a hefty tackle

Gwinn raced to a loose ball but was harshly brought down at full speed by Melanie Brunnthaler (28’), colliding with the turf shoulder-first and letting out an immediate scream of pain. Brunnthaler received a yellow card for the challenge.

After lengthy treatment, she briefly returned, only to be substituted a few minutes later amid protests from the player herself. “It hurts just watching it. We’re always particularly worried when Giulia Gwinn is on the ground,” said ZDF commentator Claudia Neumann. 

Although the 26-year-old could move her shoulder and arm without obvious pain and initially wanted to continue, Wück erred on the side of caution, replacing her with Carlotta Wamser. Gwinn then headed straight to the dressing room for checks to rule out an acromioclavicular joint dislocation or collarbone injury.

“I don’t know yet; we took her off for safety reasons. Further examinations will follow and I hope it’s nothing serious,” Wück told ZDF immediately after the final whistle.

A lengthy spell on the sidelines for Gwinn could not have come at a worse time for FC Bayern. The Munich side are still in the hunt in all three competitions. Although the Bundesliga crown is virtually theirs, they must first overcome formidable FC Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals. On 14 May, the Bayern women will then face their biggest domestic rival, Wolfsburg, in the cup final.

Gwinn has already been set back by several injuries, some of them serious, during her career. She has torn her cruciate ligament twice, and at last summer’s European Championship, her campaign was over after just the first match. During a last-ditch tackle in the opening match against Poland, she sustained a medial ligament injury in her knee and was ruled out for the rest of the tournament.

Despite that, the DFB side still reached the semi-finals after a mixed group stage and a thrilling quarter-final win over France, only to see Aitana Bonmati’s extra-time strike for Spain end their title hopes.

Germany overcame the early shock of Gwinn’s injury to dominate their local rivals Austria in Nuremberg.

Goals came from Nicole Anyomi (17’), Vivien Endemann (52’), an own goal by Sarah Puntigam (68’), Jule Brand (76’) and substitute Lea Schüller (83’), with Chiara D’Angelo (77’) replying for Austria in front of 24,237 fans. The result strengthens Germany’s grip on top spot in Group A4 on the road to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. The sides meet again as early as Saturday (6 pm CET) in Ried, where the hosts will aim to avenge this defeat.