Next Sunday, February 18, 2024, 1. FC Union Berlin's women's first team will host Regionalliga Nord side, ATS Buntentor in a friendly. Kick off at the Oberspree training center is at 14:00.

The opponents

ATS Buntentor from Bremen have been back in the Regionalliga Nord since 2020, having spent two years in the Verbandsliga following their relegation in 2018. Back in the Regionalliga, Buntentor immediately achieved a remarkable 3rd place in the table in the 2021/22 season. The next one was a little more mixed, but with a three-point lead over the relegation places, the team ultimately managed to stay up, finishing in eighth place.

This season, ATS are back in stronger form and currently occupy third place behind SV Henstedt-Ulzburg and Hannover 96. They have picked up 23 points from twelve games so far and are on course to surpass their points haul from the 2021/22 season. However, they are already nine points adrift of unbeaten league leaders Henstedt-Ulzburg, meaning that reaching the play-off in the summer, where they could theoretically meet the Union side again, is likely to be a difficult task.

Sven Gudegast has been the coach at Buntentor since 2022, having previously coached the women of SV Werder Bremen II for four years. The most prominent player in the squad is Franziska Gieseke, who made a total of 17 Bundesliga appearances for SV Werder Bremen between 2017 and 2019. Prior to that, the 25-year-old played for SV Meppen in the 2. Liga  and scored 20 goals in 48 second division appearances. Vanessa Fischer played for FF USV Jena II, VfL Sindelfingen, BV Cloppenburg, Borussia Bocholt and SV Meppen in a total of 84 second division matches. In Sindelfingen and Meppen, the 26-year-old also played together with Union midfielder Athanasia Moraitou.

The coach's views ahead of the game 

"Buntentor are a rather unknown team for us and we want to play and defend against them from the very first minute," said Union's head coach, Ailien Poese, ahead of the encounter. "We were able to tweak a few things in training during the week and are looking forward to the match." 

Service information

The match will kick off at 14:00, at the Oberspree training center, Bruno-Bürgel-Weg 63. Admission is free.