Bayern Munich edged past Manchester United 2-1 on Wednesday to claim a 5-3 aggregate win and a place in the Women’s Champions League semi-finals, with Georgia Stanway calling the move to Bavaria the best decision of a career that is nearing its Bayern end.

The German club have now made the last four of the competition for the third time, after previous runs in 2018-19 and 2020-21, while United missed the chance to become only the second team to reach the Women’s Champions League semi-finals in their debut campaign.

Stanway joined Bayern Munich from Manchester City in 2022 and is due to leave at the end of this season, yet the England international stressed there is no regret over the transfer, especially after helping Bayern overcome a poor first half to knock out Manchester United.

“It’s emotional. I have absolutely loved my time here,” Stanway told Disney+. “I think it’s beenthe best decision of my life [and] my career. Moments like this I’ll never forget and I think Bayern deserve moments like this.”

Bayern Munich struggled early and trailed when Melvine Malard scored for Manchester United, but central defender Glodis Viggosdottir and substitute Linda Dallmann struck in quick succession late on, completing the turnaround and confirming Bayern’s Women’s Champions League progression at the Allianz Arena.

Stanway produced one of the most complete midfield performances of the Women’s Champions League quarter-finals, leading the contest in touches and passes while also topping several duels and dribbles, underlining how influential the England international remains for Bayern Munich in major European games.

Stanway recorded 115 touches and completed 86 of 98 passes, both match-high figures, while also winning six of eight duels and completing three dribbles, numbers that show why Bayern Munich trusted Stanway to manage tempo in a tight Women’s Champions League knockout tie.

“That’s Champions League football. It’s just a matter of who puts the ball in the net. It doesn’t actually matter who is the better team,” Stanway added. “But we really deserved it. In the away leg, we put up a really good fight but overall we deserve this result. Everyone is super important but it’s the people who find the pockets. That’s where we got the joy today. It’s not an individual, it’s everybody working as a collective on the rotations and making sure we got in the pocket space.”

Women’s Champions League learning curve for Manchester United

Manchester United’s elimination means the English club fall short of matching Manchester City, who previously reached the Women’s Champions League semi-finals in their first appearance, yet Marc Skinner stressed there remains pride in a squad that few observers expected to move beyond the group stage.

“Nobody had us getting out of the group stage,” said United boss Marc Skinner. “From our perspective, we as a club need to design later-stage tournament conversations about squad size, experience. We have to do it. We will learn from it. The one disappointment I have from this is if we had our freshness and our fit players we could have gone toe-to-toe with them and really changed the second half. I’ll never know but what I’ve said to the team is we have three games left in the league and if you win those three games you can experience the Champions League again next year. That’s on us to be able to do that.”

Skinner stressed that Manchester United must use the Women’s Champions League exit as a reference point for squad planning and fitness management, while also reminding players that winning their final three league matches would secure a return to Europe’s top competition next season.