In the women’s Bundesliga, matchday 17 focuses on the duel between Hoffenheim and Frankfurt for third place in the table, as well as the relegation battle.
1. FC Cologne – MSV Duisburg (Friday, 7.15 p.m.)
Cologne goalkeeper Manon Klett played well against Werder Bremen last weekend. But then Klett, of all people, made a serious mistake with a free kick from Nina Lührßen. After the final whistle, the goalkeeper fell to the ground crying. She has to leave that behind now, because the penultimate from Cologne has the important game against their table neighbors from Duisburg.
Meanwhile, MSV can fall back on Emilie Henriksen, who was recently struggling with muscle problems. The 26-year-old Danish defender has been an indispensable part of the defense and should help to increase the narrow lead over Cologne.
Eintracht Frankfurt – TSG Hoffenheim (Saturday, 1 p.m.)
Before the game for third place, TSG Hoffenheim is ahead in the table due to Eintracht’s last canceled game and also drew attention to itself with a transfer during the week. In the summer, Leonie Maier, an Olympic champion and European champion, is coming Everton FC to TSG. Hoffenheim is reacting to Katharina Naschenweng’s imminent departure to Bayern Munich and is preparing for possible international assignments.
In order to get that far, you need a better performance compared to the last game against SGS Essen, despite the win. Apparently the players see it that way too, because according to coach Stephan Lerch they were very self-critical after the game. Lerch expects a game with high and aggressive pressing.
SV Meppen – FC Bayern Munich (Sunday, 1 p.m.)
The emotional rollercoaster ride with the victory over Wolfsburg and the end of the Champions League leads the FC Bayern Munich players to the end in Emsland. There could be a crowd record there, the previous one is 2,381 from the DFB Cup round of 16 in 2017 – also against FC Bayern Munich. Coach Carin Bakhuis is missing an important player on the pitch. Lisa Josten, Meppen’s top scorer with four goals, has to serve a yellow card suspension.
After being eliminated by Arsenal, the league leaders from Munich struggled with their own mistakes against a tactically superior opponent. The double is still possible for the Munich team and that is exactly what national player Lina Magull wants to work towards: “We still have two competitions open and are now trying to be even closer together and focus on that.”
SC Freiburg – Turbine Potsdam (Sunday, 1 p.m.)
Four defeats in a row and two games without a goal: SC Freiburg’s record in March is anything but rosy, especially since Theresa Merk’s team needed a long time to really settle into the game against Leverkusen. The trainer therefore criticized the lack of intensity in the meantime. In turn, they put Turbine Potsdam on the field for their first win of the season and turned a 0-1 win against Meppen into a 3-1 win.
Match winner was double packer Jessica de Filippo, it was her first two league goals ever. The Potsdam women were also lucky that a handball was not called before the equalizer. The turbines are now hoping for the next bang against the weak Freiburg women.
SGS Essen – Bayer Leverkusen (Sunday, 4 p.m.)
In the first leg, Leverkusen handed SGS Essen their heaviest defeat of the season with a 6-0 win. In the meantime, the Essen women have stabilized and are Bayer’s table neighbors. For Selina Ostermeier, Elisa Senß and Jill Bayings, the game means a return to the former living room. A knot burst for Bayings from the Netherlands last weekend, because after her three goals in the first three games she had to wait a long time for another goal. Then there was a brace against Freiburg.
Coach Robert de Pauw is also happy about Ivana Fuso’s return to team training, but the German-Brazilian high-class technician is probably too early.
VfL Wolfsburg – SV Werder Bremen (Sunday, 4 p.m.)
Werder Bremen will have to do without midfielder Reena Wichmann for several months, who injured her cruciate ligament in the game against Cologne. In addition to Wichmann himself, this is also a heavy blow for coach Thomas Horsch, because she has been a Bremen starting eleven for years.
On the other hand, Tommy Stroot has no injury worries to complain about, but VfL have recently lost the naturalness of pressing and switching games and last weekend they were also at the top of the table. But there is also a big consolation: Wolfsburg has been in the semi-finals of the Champions League since Thursday evening.