Vanessa Gilles marks first Bayern start in style with commanding performance - ICYMI
It’s been a great two weeks for Vanessa Gilles, as she kicks off life at her new club, Bayern Munich, who she joined on a transfer this summer.
On August 30th, she made her debut for the club off the bench in the DFB Super Cup final, entering in the 82nd minute of her team’s 4-2 win vs. Wolfsburg. Thanks to that, she was able to lift a trophy on her debut - not the worst experience to have for any player, especially one that made a big move like this one.
Building off that, though, Gilles had another good day with Bayern this past weekend, as she helped the club to a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in their Frauen Bundesliga opener at Allianz Arena, scoring the winning goal with a great header in the 76th minute.
🇨🇦 VANESSA GILLES' FIRST GOAL FOR BAYERN BREAKS THE DEADLOCK AGAINST LEVERKUSEN 🔓
— DAZN Women's Football (@DAZNWFootball) September 6, 2025
Watch the Frauen Bundesliga live for free on https://t.co/IJxpPUqHs8#DieLiga pic.twitter.com/N8kSvQaubu
That sealed a player of the match performance from the Canadian centre back, who also played a key role in helping her side secure the clean sheet in her first start with her new club.
Just look at her defensive metrics, as she finished with two tackles, five clearances, one interception, five recoveries and seven out of seven won duels in a commanding performance. 
Here are all of Gilles' defensive actions from this game, showing her overall involvement on that side of her game (WyScout)
Yet, that’s not surprising to see from Gilles, who has been one of the most dominant defensive centre backs in the world over the last few years, even pre-dating her time with Lyonnes, where she spent the last three seasons on loan - so it’s great to see her continue to shine on the defensive end of the game, as she’s a defender at the end of the day.
Fittingly, though, where she took the biggest strides forward in France was with her play on the ball, and she showed that in this game, as she completed 86 out of 97 passes, making nine passes into the final third. She had some actions she’ll want back - she completed just three out of eight long balls - but she did well to circulate the ball in possession, something she’ll have to do a lot of on a Bayern team that will want to be on the front foot in most games. 
From there, her goal almost ended up feeling like a bonus, but it’s hard to say it wasn’t coming, as Gilles had a whopping four shot attempts, worth a decent 0.5 xG, as she was a force on set-pieces. 
Here's Gilles's shot map from this game, with all of her attempts coming in the box (WyScout)
That’s not surprising to see - this is a player who scored 20 goals in 70 appearances for Lyonnes, which is a pretty remarkable scoring rate for a centre back - but it’s encouraging that Gilles already looks like a threat this early into her Bayern career, as it took some time for her to assume a similar role with Lyonnes.
At the same time, this isn’t unsurprising - unlike in France, where Gilles was a cog in the machine that is a loaded Lyonnes side, Gilles is expected to be a star on this Bayern team, one that will be the leader of this defence the same way Wendie Renard led that Lyonnes side.
That will be shown on the ball (Gilles led Bayern in touches this game with 115), off the ball (she also led Bayern in defensive actions with eight), and on set pieces (she had two shots more than any other player on both teams), so expect more performances like this as she embraces this new role. 
Here's Gilles's pass map from this game, showing how involved she was in possession, with the bulk of her attempts being pretty straightforward passes (WyScout)
Will she be able to score and keep a clean sheet every week? Who knows, but she’ll play a central role in a lot of what Bayern does this year, which is why this move is so exciting and important for her.
Having blossomed into one of the best centre backs in the world in France, she can now prove her credentials, as she aims to show that her success wasn’t dependent on the system Lyonnes played.
This was a good start for her in that regard, so look for her to now build on this as Bayern tackles what’s next, starting with a trip to face RB Leipzig next weekend.
For a full update of a busy weekend of CanWNT players playing abroad, check out Mitchell Tierney’s form guide on OneSoccer.
