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Union Take on Leverkusen

Women's First Friendly of the Winter

Fri, 17. January 2025
Union Take on Leverkusen

In their first game of the winter break, the women's team of 1. FC Union Berlin will face Bundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Saturday, 18 January 2025. Kick off against the Werkself in Oliva Nova, Spain, is at 14:00, and also marks the end of the nine-day training camp.

The lie of the land

Bayer 04 Leverkusen went into the winter break with a 2-0 Bundesliga win over table neighbours SC Freiburg in mid-December. After the start of training on 6 January and their 1-0 friendly win over RSC Anderlecht four days later, the team have been in Oliva Nova since 12 January. There, the Leverkusen also played a friendly against FC Villareal, which they won 5-1.

Union, meanwhile, ended 2024 with a 3-1 away win at FSV Gütersloh 2009 and went into the winter break in second place in the 2. Bundesliga. After the start of training on 7 January 2025, the team have been preparing for the second half of the season in Oliva Nova since 10 January. The clash with Leverkusen is the first of three winter break friendlies.

The opponents

Leverkusen were in impressive form before the winter break and won their last six competitive games, including a 1-0 victory over then-leaders VfL Wolfsburg at the beginning of December. Thanks to this winning streak, the Werkself are currently in 4th place with 26 points and are only three points behind table-toppers, Eintracht Frankfurt. Furthermore, Leverkusen have a game in hand on Eintracht Frankfurt, FC Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg, because the match on the first match day against SC Freiburg will be replayed in two weeks' time due to a refereeing error. Should Leverkusen win that, they would draw level on points with Frankfurt and Bayern.

It was not necessarily to be expected that Bayer 04 would be in the running for the championship this season. For years, they have fought to avoid relegation from the top flight, finally succumbing for the first time in 2017 after seven years. After being immediately promoted back in 2018 and spending two more seasons in the relegation battle – in 2020, they only stayed up on goal difference – the team have at least managed to work their way into mid-table in recent years. Leverkusen's best finishes to date came in the 2020/21 and 2022/23 seasons, when they came fifth. Last season, B04 finished in sixth place.

However, under new coach Roberto Pätzold, who took over in the summer of 2024, Leverkusen have had an outstanding season so far. The only competitive defeat came when they lost 3-2 against reigning champions Bayern München. The summer signings, in particular Cornelia Kramer, who came from Denmark and is the team's top scorer with six goals this season, have played a significant role in the club's success. Leverkusen's defence have been particularly convincing, with only eight goals conceded, the second-best tally in the league after Frankfurt's five.

The personnel

Union head coach Ailien Poese will have to do without Maria Cristina Lange, Katja Orschmann, Sarah Abu Sabbah and Eleni Markou on Saturday.

The coach's views ahead of the game

"We are looking forward to the first friendly of the year against a strong opponent," said Union's head coach, Ailien Poese, ahead of Saturday's clash. "Leverkusen were able to establish themselves in the top group of the Bundesliga in the first half of the season, have a strong squad and have impressed with clear plans and high levels of aggression. We want to implement what we have worked on from the first few weeks in competition, give it our all defensively and take a lot from the game into the next few weeks." 

Service information

The game will be played in Oliva Nova on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on AFTV. There will also be a club live ticker for the game, as well as updates in English and Spanish on twitter