The women's team of 1. FC Union Berlin will host Magdeburger FFC in the 22nd game of the Regionalliga Nordost season. Union will be looking for revenge, having suffered their first league defeat of the season to their guests in November. Kick-off at Dörpfeldstraße is at 2 pm.

The opponents

Magdeburger FFC are currently in 5th after 21 games, with 39 points. Head coach Alexander Auer's team are particularly dangerous up front and, with 56 goals, have the fourth strongest attack in the league behind the three top teams from Berlin.

The 17 year old Melina Krüger is fourth on the list of top-scorers with 15 goals already this season, and her team-mates Cora Ellemann (11 goals) and Neele Abraham (10) (who are also only 17 and 18 years old respectively) are not far behind. They are young and dynamic, and play some very good football, as shown by last weekend's 3-0 win against Bischofswerdaer FV.

For a long time, Magdeburger FFC, who played in the 2. Liga from 2009 to 2015, were one of the top candidates for promotion from the league. And few will forget the thrilling 2017/18 season, when Union and Magdeburg went head-to-head for first place right to the very end. It all culminated as  the two sides met on the last day of the season, with Magdeburg enjoying a two-point lead and only needing a draw to secure first place, but instead Union won 1-0 to overtake their rivals from Saxony-Anhalt on the finishing line.

The head to head

The last fixture in Magdeburg ended in a 4-2 loss for Union in November 2022, Union's first league defeat of the season. After Lina Krauss had given the guests the lead, Magdeburg turned the game on its head, going from 1-0 down to 3-1 up within 13 wild minutes. Immediately after half-time, Hannah Kratz pulled things back to 3-2, but despite their best efforts Union were unable to find a way through. Instead it was Abraham who scored the decisive goal in the final quarter of an hour on a devastating break to make it 4-2.

Due to their long-standing rivalry in the Regionalliga, and the joint season in the 2. Liga in 2014/15 (a season that saw both clubs relegated), the have now met 22 times. Union have by far the better record with 14 victories, Magdeburg have five there have been three draws.

The last encounter at Dörpfeldstraße in May 2022 ended 5-0 for Union.

The coach's views ahead of the game

"Magdeburg were the first team we lost to in the first half of the season to, because they countered very well from a compact defence," said Union's head coach, Ailien Poese in mid-week. "Their team have also further developed, as they have a young squad and have become more flexible in their approach to the game. We are prepared for that and want to redress the balance of the lat match on our own pitch." 

Elisa Schindler, Elisa Spolaczyk, Luca Scheel, Pauline Wimmer and Hannah Kratz are still absent, while Lina Krauss, Dina Orschmann and Naika Reissner's chnaces of playing are also in doubt.