After the disappointing loss to Borussia Pankow in the Berlin Cup on Thursday, it's straight back to the Regionalliga for Union's women this coming Sunday, 25.09.2022, with recently promoted FC Hertha 03 Zehlendorf coming to the table-toppers.

Please note: The home ground has been changed at short notice, so that the match will now take place at Dörpfeldstraße. Kick-off is at 14:00.

The Opponents: FC Hertha 03 Zehlendorf back in the Regionalliga after 17 years

The fact that Hertha can play in the Regionalliga at all this season is thanks to 1. FC Union Berlin. Union's 2nd team won last season's Berlin-Liga, but weren't eligible for promotion, because the U23 team is not allowed to play in the same league as the main team, meaning Hertha 03 benefited as the runners-up.

The Blue and Whites therefore returned to the Regionalliga after an absense of 17 years. That season will bring back bad memories, though, for Hertha who were immediately relegated having come bottom of the table..

Head coach Henrik Suttinger's team were the surprise packageBerlin-Liga promotion race last season. After all, Zehlendorf had spent years near the bottom of the league and were even relegated to the Landesliga for a year in 2016. However, Hertha 03 were outstanding, ending up with 63 points, only two points behind Union II.

The team from the south-west of Berlin have also had a good start in the Regionalliga so far this season. Zehlendorf are sitting in 7th place in the table with four points after four matches. While they suffered two clear defeats on the first two match days against Türkiyemspor (3-0) and Magdeburger FFC (5-0), they were able to take their first points of the season a fortnight ago against FC Carl Zeiss Jena II with a 2-0 victory. Then last Sunday, the team followed this up with a 2-2 draw at Bischofswerdaer FV.

Marie Ulrich, a former Union player who was part of Union's squad until the summer, has also joined the promoted team. The 20-year-old goalkeeper stood between the posts for Zehlendorf on the first two matchdays, but had to make do with the substitutes' bench in the last two games.

The head-to-head: 

To look back at the only two competitive duels between the two teams, one has to leaf through the archives. The last time Union played Hertha in the league was in the 2004/05 Regionalliga season. Union won both games.

Only six months ago, however, the teams met in a friendly. After Hertha 03 had taken an early lead in front of their home crowd, Lisa Heiseler and Elisa Spolaczyk turned the game around. In the 90th minute, however, the hosts managed to equalise to make it 2-2.

Obviously, however, there have been a few more encounters between 1. FC Union Berlin II and Hertha 03. Of the 20 times the sides have met, the U23 team have won ten, lost seven and , three games ended in draws. The last match in May 2022 was won by Hertha 03 4-2.