On Sunday, 1. FC Union Berlin’s women’s team will travel to play Borussia Mönchengladbach on match day 10 of the 2. Bundesliga, as they look to remain unbeaten in a fifth game away from home. Kick off at the Grenzlandstadion is at 14:00.
The head to head
Last weekend, Borussia Mönchengladbach picked up a point at FSV Gütersloh 2009 with an equaliser, making it 1-1 in the fourth minute of stoppage time. This was their first point this month, following their 2-0 loss to HSV and 4-2 loss at home to Bochum.
Last weekend, meanwhile, Union beat SV Meppen 2-1 in a hard-fought game. Having conceded a fourth minute goal, the hosts cturned the game around before half-time thanks to goals from captain Lisa Heiseler and Celine Frank.
The opponents
Borussia Mönchengladbach have experienced a few changes of league in recent years, with four promotions and three relegations in the last nine years. After a somewhat surprising promotion from the Regionalliga West in the 2015/16 season, they managed to make it straight into the Bundesliga, only to be relegated again in 2017. The team from the Lower Rhine returned to the top flight just one year later, but again missed out on staying up in the following season with only one point from 22 games. Two years later, in the 2020/21 season, the club slumped all the way back to the Regionalliga West, before, in the 2022/23 season, they finally managed to return to the 2. Liga, where they finished last season in 9th place.
With an average age of 22.1 years, Gladbach have one of the youngest squads in the league, with that somewhat inflated by the appearance of 34-year-old defender Yvonne Zielinski, who joined from MSV Duisburg in the summer and brings with her over 150 Bundesliga appearances under her belt. Besides Zielinski, Carolin Corres (28) is the only other player in the squad older than 25 years.
With eleven points from nine games, the Foals are currently seventh in the table, with nine of these points taken at their Grenzlandstadion. Their first and so far only home defeat came two weeks ago against VfL Bochum. Having beaten arch-rivals 1. FC Köln 9-8 on penalties in the DFB Pokal, Gladbach will face another Bundesliga team, SGS Essen in the last sixteen, in two weeks’ time.
The personnel
On Sunday, Union head coach Ailien Poese will still have to do without Maria Cristina Lange, Katja Orschmann, Sarah Abu Sabbah, Sophie Trojahn and Ginger Schulz.
The reunion
Although Sarah Abu Sabbah will not be able to play on Sunday due to injury, the centre forward played from 2018 to 2022 in Mönchengladbach, netting 48 times in 70 competitive games. Abu Sabbah scored for them in the Bundesliga, the 2. Bundesliga and the Regionalliga West. In her last season at Gladbach, she was crowned top scorer in the Regionalliga West.
The coach’s views ahead of the game
“In Gladbach, we face an opponent who scores goals through quick transitions, who play straight forward and who go into duels physically and robustly,” was Union’s head coach, Ailien Poese’s assessment of Sunday’s opponents. “We have to accept this challenge, keep our distances and spaces tight in defence and defend with passion. In addition, we want to be patient and efficient in attack to create and take our chances to score.”
Service information
The game will be played on Sunday at 14:00 at the Grenzlandstadion (Jahnplatz 1, 41236 Mönchengladbach). Tickets are only available on the door.
The game will be live and free on Sporttotal transferred. Union will also provide a live ticker for the game, as well as giving live updates in English and Spanish on Twitter.