It takes a special kind of player to be the match-winner in a Champions League semi-final.
Last week, that player was Hanna Glas, Bayern Munich’s Swedish right-back. After providing the assist for Sydney Lohmann to score her team’s first goal, she bagged the second in a 2-1 victory over a Chelsea side that many considered favourites to prevail.
The strike was world-class too – a left-footed rocket into the top corner of Ann-Katrin Berger’s net. It was a goal, and a performance, certainly worthy of securing such a big result on such a big stage.
Her coach, Jens Scheuer, was somewhat shocked by the manner in which she got on the scoresheet, though.
“I was just surprised that she can even score with her left foot!” he laughed afterwards. “I underestimated her a little bit.”
But there was nothing in her performance that caught him off guard.
“Hanna is, for me, one of the best right-backs in the world,” he added. “I see how dynamic she is, how secure she is in her passing, but also how dangerous she can be in our attacking game.”
Glas’ contributions going forward certainly caught the eye in the first leg and those same forays down the right wing caused problems for the U.S. women’s national team in Sweden’s 1-1 draw with the world champions in April.
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The 28-year-old is no stranger to these important games. After all, she was a key part of the Sweden side that finished third at the 2019 Women’s World Cup, beating England to the bronze medal.
However, the fact that she has come to the fore in the past 12 months is evidence that she made the right choice joining Bayern last year.
She certainly deserves her time in the spotlight. This, after all, is a player who, with three anterior cruciate ligaments injuries in her past, has had her fair share of bad luck in the past.
Glas looked set to make her big breakthrough three years ago. After establishing herself as a regular in the Damallsvenskan, Sweden’s top flight, she secured a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
With the opportunity to play Champions League football for the first time, and experience the epic rivalry with Lyon, the seven-time European champions, the transfer represented a golden chance to take her game to the next level.
She showcased her talent in glimpses, for sure, but she found the language barrier and the different style of football challenging.
“At first, I was a bit confused because I had to make a lot of decisions myself on the pitch,” she explained earlier this season. “It was a good phase for my development because I was much more creative."
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Glas may have made just five league appearances in her second season with PSG, but when she moved on to Germany, that development she cites was aided by the kind of tactical approach prevalent in Sweden.
In Munich, her defensive work has come on massively and now she is serving up a perfect balance of play that suits her and the team. She’s playing regularly again, starting every game bar one in all competitions this season, and she’s found her rhythm.
“To keep going forward and develop as the player I want to be, I have to have a coach and a club that believes in me and that wants to invest in me as a player,” she told VAVEL last summer. In Scheuer, she certainly has that.
“She already assisted with a lot of goals. That's what we want to see from her and expect from her. But this also has to do with her confidence,” the Bayern coach said last week. “She gained a lot of confidence here with us. She gets the trust from the club and from me.”
It has all, finally, aligned perfectly. Glas has been given the platform to thrive and she’s doing so on club football’s biggest stage.
As well as being top of the Frauen-Bundesliga, looking to bring home the club’s first league title in five years, she and Bayern are both aiming for a first Champions League final, too.
Should they finish the job against Chelsea in London this weekend, it could well be PSG who stand between them and the trophy.
Against her former club, there wouldn’t be a better game for Glas to showcase just why she’s now being labelled one of the best right-backs in the world.