Guro Bergsvand Aims To Thwart Friend In UEFA Women’s Champions League

WOLFSBURG, GERMANY – SEPTEMBER 15: Guro Bergsvand of VfL Wolfsburg poses during the official UEFA Women’s Champions League 2025/26 portrait session at AOK-Stadion on September 15, 2025 in Wolfsburg, Germany. (Photo by Boris Streubel – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

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On Wednesday, VfL Wolfsburg will attempt to move level on points with Manchester United in the UEFA Women’s Champions League when two Norwegian team-mates face-off.

Wolfsburg defender Guro Bergsvand could be marking her old friend Elisabeth Terland who is the overall top goalscorer in the competition so far this season. The pair were colleagues at SK Brann, before Bergsvand joined Terland at Brighton and Hove Albion in January 2023.

It was Terland who convinced Bergsvand to play in England before leaving to join Manchester United last summer. Terland was the club’s top goalscorer in her first season in Manchester, with 12 in all competitions. She is well on the way to surpassing that total in this campaign. Seven of Terland’s nine goals so far have come in the Champions League and the task of stopping her this week may fall on her Norwegian team-mate Bergsvand, who this summer joined VfL Wolfsburg on a free transfer.

The pair did play against each other in two Women’s Super League matches last season. Although United had the upper hand over Brighton, Bergsvand did prevent Terland from scoring, something she hopes may earn her a first starting role in the UEFA Women’s Champions League group phase on Wednesday.

“I remember in the games when we played Manchester United last year, we were very focused on Elisabeth,” Bergsvand told me. “She’s a great finisher and a great striker. We just know that she can show up in big moments so I was very aware of her.”

“Also, being my team-mate, I played against her a lot of times (in training). It’s like a personal battle as well so it felt good, not having her score in those games. I’m looking forward to seeing her here. Hopefully we will not let her score again”

In their debut season at this stage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Manchester United have surprised some by winning all three of their League Phase matches so far. Going into tomorrow’s game they sit three points ahead of their hosts, two-time former European champions Wolfsburg.

“There’s a little bit of a new Manchester United,” believes Bergsvand, “at least from what I’m seeing this year. They have more depth in their squad, different variations in their playing style. They’ve always been solid for a few years at the back, not letting teams create a lot of chances against them. Up front they have some individual quality that we definitely need to be aware of.”

Now 32, Bergsvand has had to take the long road to reach this stage of her career. In December 2021, Bergsvand was voted as the Norwegian players’ role model of the year for her perseverance in coming back from a succession of serious knee injuries while at college in the United States. She recovered to play in the Norwegian top flight (Toppserien) and make her international debut at tbe age of 27, scoring on her debut.

The jury said that “her courage, indomitable willpower and love for football have nevertheless made her a player at the highest level today. She is a fantastic ambassador for the league and for women’s football as a brand. She is the prototype of the Toppserien players, with higher education and work experience in her bag. She is a role model and inspiration for all young players who face adversity, who doubt themselves and who need proof that what may seem impossible is actually possible.”

“Yes, my international debut was late,” she concedes, “but the same passion that I felt before that, I feel the same now. Obviously being recognised for it and getting the opportunities to play for Brighton in the Women’s Super League and now to be here at Wolfsburg, playing in the Champions League, I’m just very, very grateful. Still I’m the same, I want to improve. I still feel like I have many good years left in me and there’s still room to get even better as a footballer and that’s what I try to do every day.”

Bergsvand is enjoying life in Germany after signing a two-year contract for Wolfsburg. She is trying to learn the language and secure a regular starting place after becoming a free agent in the summer. Although a month passed before she signed a new deal, she told me she was always aware of the interest in her from tbe German club.

“Wolfsburg came along pretty quickly. I knew obviously that my contract at Brighton was coming to an end. I was thinking I would go into the summer looking at different options but then Wolfsburg came along and it was a good opportunity for me so I decided very quickly that I’d love to come here and then the announcement came a little later. I knew for a while.”

Bergsvand had previously graduated with a degree in Media Studies from Berkeley. Alongside her sports career, she worked in marketing, as she explained to me. “Before I moved to Brighton, I worked as a a marketing consultant back in Norway. I really enjoyed that actually. It was a good combination, I had a really good boss then who let me take time to focus on football, then being available when I had time to work.”

“Once I’m done, I will probably look into doing something similar, you never know. Right now, I ‘m just focusing on football and very happy to be able to do that.”

Watch every match of the UEFA Women’s Champion League, live on Disney+ as part of existing customer subscriptions.