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On Sunday, 19.05.2024, the women’s team of 1. FC Union Berlin will play the final of the Polytan Cup against FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin. Kick off in the Volkspark Mariendorf is at 15:00.
The opponents
Sunday afternoon sees Union facing the current holders FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin, after they celebrated their third cup win in the club’s history last season after a 2-0 victory in the final against SFC Stern 1900. This is Viktoria Berlin’s 6th consecutive appearance in the final of the Berliner Pokal. Their first triumph in 2018 was followed by a 3-2 defeat in the final against Union themselves in 2019, which was also last cup victory for Union. A year later, Viktoria were again crowned winners before the 2020/21 season had to be abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2022, Viktoria were beaten in the final by Türkiyemspor before claiming their third crown last year.
On their way to the final this year, Viktoria have only faced lower-ranked teams. A 3-0 win over FFC Berlin 2004 in the first round was followed by a 13-0 victory over SV Lichtenberg 47 in the round of 16. In the quarter-finals, the team from Lichterfelde beat FC Internationale 7-0, before a 6-0 win over Blau-Weiss Hohen Neuendorf in the semi-finals booked their place in the final.
Meanwhile, the team of head coach Dennis Galleski, who extended his contract last week, officially confirmed their second-place finish in the Regionalliga Nordost last weekend. With two games to play before the end of the season, Viktoria can no longer catch up with Union’s lead of nine points but do enjoy has a 13-point gap to third-placed FC Carl Zeiss Jena II.
With 17 wins from 20 games, last season’s double winners have again been strong this season, but they will have been doubly disappointed following their relegation play-off loss to HSV last Summer. The team’s top scorer is Kim Urbanek with 15 goals so far.
The head to head
The two clubs have already faced each other 32 times, and the balance is pretty even, with 13 wins for Union, 14 for Viktoria, while there have been five draws. This season, however, Union have had the bragging rights, having come out on top in both league matches, winning 1-0 at home and 3-0 in Lichterfelde.
The clubs have met twice in the cup final, with Union lifting the trophy both times. A 5-1 win in the spring of 2016 was followed by the aforementioned 3-2 win in 2019. However, Viktoria won their last meeting in the Berlin Cup when Viktoria knocked Union out of the competition with a 1-0 win in the 2019/20 semi-final.
The personnel
Head coach Ailien Poese will be without Luca Scheel, Maria Cristina Lange, Pauline Wimmer and Anna Weiß on Sunday due to injury.
The coach’s views ahead of the game
“Viktoria are the strongest opponent we have at the moment,” said Union’s head coach, Ailien Poese, ahead of the big game. “A cup match is always a special duel in which we want to bring our strengths to the pitch and take on this battle. Conviction and mentality play just as much a role as tactical and technical solutions – we want to bring all of that to the final so that we can celebrate our second title of the season at the end. But we know that it will be a very tough game against a very good opponent.”
Service information
Tickets are available in the online store of the Berlin Football Association (BFV). The cost is €5 or a reduced price of €3. Children under the age of twelve are admitted free of charge but require a free ticket. There will be no box office open on match day.
