This Saturday, 24 August, 1. FC Union Berlin’s women’s team will play their first home match of the new 2. Bundesliga season when they face Hamburger SV. Kick off at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei is at 13:00.

The lie of the land

The guests from the banks of the Elbe started their season with a 2-0 first round win in the DFB Pokal against 1. FC Magdeburg, they have been drawn to play MSV Duisburg in the second round.

Union meanwhile also successfully completed their first task in the cup when, in a thrilling cup tie, they won 6-4 on penalties (following a 2-2 draw) against second division veterans FSV Gütersloh 2009. Leipzig await in the next round.

The opponents

Hamburg finished fourth in their first year in the 2. Bundesliga, narrowly missing out on a place in the Bundesliga with 15 wins, five draws and six defeats, while their 58 goals made them the most prolific attack in the league.

Striker Larissa Mühlhaus, who was top scorer with 20 goals and moved to Bundesliga club Werder Bremen in the summer, particularly stood out. She scored three goals in their pre-season friendly against Union.

Pre-season saw HSV get off to a successful start with two wins. Even without their goalscorer, a 6-1 victory against SV Holstein Kiel was followed by a 3-0 win against Danish first division side Kolding IF. However, they later lost to Bundesliga teams Jena (0-1) and Bremen (1-3).

The head to head

Union and HSV have faced each other twice so far. In August 2019, HSV won 2-0 in their Cup tie in Berlin, while in February this year, Union won 3-1 against the fellow 2. Liga side club in a friendly, having come back from a goal down.

Personnel

Head coach Ailien Poese will be without Maria Cristina Lange on Saturday. 

Voice before the game

‘The week was naturally a bit short due to the cup match and we can expect a different type of football to last season,” said Union’s head coach Ailen Poese ahead of the league’s start on Saturday. “It will be a different level of toughness and a different game to what we know from the Regionalliga. HSV are a top team.  But we are well prepared, want to embrace the physicality and also counterattack in order to work for the ball and then, of course, create chances.’

Service information

The stadium An der Alten Försterei opens its gates at 11:30.

Tickets for the match are on sale at all Union’s Zeughaus stores and online. There will also be a ticket office open on match day.

The match against Hamburg will be broadcast live on AFTV, and there will also be a live ticker for the match on fussball.de, as well as regular updates, as ever, in English and Spanish on Twitter.