On Sunday, 6 October 2024, the women’s team of 1. FC Union Berlin will face SC Sand in the 6th matchday of the 2. Bundesliga. Kick off at the Adams-Arena in Willstätt is at 14:00.
The head to head
After five matches, SC Sand are currently in 6th place with seven points. Having won 3-2 away at Hamburger SV two weeks ago, they have not won in the last two games. A 1-1 draw against FC Ingolstadt was followed last weekend by a 2-0 defeat at SV Meppen.
Meanwhile, Union were able to climb to the top of the 2. Bundesliga table with a superb 3-0 win over FC Bayern München II last Sunday. They remain the only unbeaten team in the league.
The opponents
When Union take to the pitch at the Adams Arena on Sunday afternoon, they will be doing so just twelve kilometres from the French city of Strasbourg. There, in the far south-west of Germany, lies the municipality of Willstätt – home to SC Sand – with a population of around 10,000. Despite the town’s modest size, its football fans enjoyed Bundesliga football at SC Sand for nine consecutive years from 2014 to 2022. Since being relegated to the 2. Liga, Sand have finished 7th and 6th in the last two seasons.
Alexander Fischinger has been head coach in Sand since 2021, having previously been on the sidelines during the 2015/16 season. This summer, the 60-year-old was confronted with an upheaval in his squad as eleven players left the club, including two key actors, Emily Evels and Emma Loving, who joined neighbouring RC Strasbourg in the Première Ligue. Amelie Bohnen and Noemi Gentile also left for the Bundesliga’s 1. FC Köln and FC Carl Zeiss Jena, respectively. In return, seven new players joined, five of whom were in the starting line-up last weekend.
SC Sand’s greatest club successes have probably come in the DFB Pokal, reaching the final in both the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons. They, however, lost 2-1 to VfL Wolfsburg in both matches. The first of those sprung a major surprise when they beat the eventual German champions FC Bayern München in the semi-finals. This season, however, the giants took their long-awaited revenge in the second round, beating Sand 6-0 in the second round.
The personnel
Union’s head coach Ailien Poese will still have to do without Maria Cristina Lange and Katja Orschmann on Sunday.
The reunion
Fatma Sakar took her first steps in the Bundesliga when she played for SC Sand between 2020 and 2022. The full-back made a total of 19 Bundesliga appearances for the blue and whites.
The coach’s views ahead of the game
“In SC Sand, we are facing a robust and very strong team that have repeatedly impressed with set-pieces and direct football in front of their home crowd,” said a cautiously optimistic Union head coach, Ailien Poese. “We want to meet this challenge with an intense and focused defensive performance, while recognising and taking advantage of the different phases of the game. When we have the ball, we want to be well-structured so that we can create good scoring chances.”
Service information
The game will be played on Sunday at 14:00 in the Adams Arena (Kühnmatt 3, 77731 Willstätt). Tickets are only available at the gate.
The game will be broadcast live and free of charge on Sporttotal. There will also be a live ticker for the game, as well as updates in English and Spanish on Twitter.
