Just a week after the furious start to the second half of the season at Hamburger SV, 1. FC Union Berlin's women's team have their next top opponents in view as the second-placed side face the league leaders, 1. FC Nürnberg. Kick off on Sunday, 16 February 2025, at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei is at 15:30.

The lie of the land

1. FC Nürnberg kicked off their second half of the season with a 3-2 home win over FC Ingolstadt last weekend. This enabled the club from Franconia to maintain its four-point lead over Union in the table.

Meanhile, Union travelled to face fellow promotion rivals Hamburger SV. After HSV took the lead after just 90 seconds, a brace from Lisa Heiseler turned the game in the favour of the Köpenick side. Union showed their mental toughness to hold on for the win, despite being down to ten players for the last ten minutes.

The opponents

As a recently relegated Bundesliga team, 1. FC Nürnberg were among the favourites for promotion before the season started. And after a slow start with just four points from their first three games, the club lived up to this role as the season progressed, winning nine of the next ten league games before the winter break; their only points dropped were in the 1-1 against Hamburger SV in November.

This winning streak saw Nürnberg take the lead in the table from the 7th matchday, going into the winter break with a four-point lead over Union and nine points clear of fourth, and the non-promotion places. The team of head coach Thomas Oostendorp, who has been on the sidelines since 2023, are convincing in both attack and defence. With 33 goals scored, FCN have the second-best attack after SC Sand (34). With nine conceded, they share the joint best record with Union.

During the winter break, they team played four friendlies. After a 3-1 defeat to Bundesliga side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, Nürnberg went on to beat Austrian Bundesliga team LASK 8-0, before losing 6-0 to Czech league leaders Sparta Praha. They then won their final game against Regionalliga team Kickers Offenbach 8-1.

In the winter, FCN also welcomed two notable new additions. Defender Julia Pollak was signed from Bundesliga club RasenBallsport Leipzig. The 22-year-old has made a total of 60 Bundesliga appearances, including six games for FC Bayern Munich, while the signing of Jacqueline Baumgärtel caused a stir. The centre forward scored nine goals for FSV Gütersloh 2009 in the first half of the season, making her the most prolific striker in the league. With Baumgärtel, Nuremberg currently have the three top goal scorers in the league. Nastassja Lein also has nine goals this season after her brace last weekend, while her strike partner Medina Desic has eight.

The reunion

One possible reason for Baumgärtel's transfer could have been Nele Bauereisen's move. The 20-year-old forward joined Union from Nuremberg in January. Prior to that, she had scored twelve goals in 60 competitive games for the club since the summer of 2021, including six goals in the current season. On the same day that her transfer to Köpenick was announced, Nuremberg reported that Baumgärtel had signed.

The head to head

The goalless draw the last time the sides met was also the first ever competitive game between the two teams. Due to Eleni Markou's red card just before half-time, Union had to play 45 minutes with ten outfield players, but they defended passionately and held on for the draw.

The personnel

Union's head coach, Ailien Poese,will have to do without Marie Becker, Sophie Trojahn, Maria Cristina Lange and Katja Orschmann on Sunday. Charleen Niesler is also suspended after being sent off against Hamburger SV.

The coach's view ahead of the game

"We are looking forward to the first home game of the second half of the season against the league leaders," was Poese's assessment of her side's challenge on Sunday. "We expect a strong and aggressive opponent who will demand a lot of work from us defensively, but whom we also want to put under pressure repeatedly in attack and create our situations. We will go into the game with full energy and want to close the gap to the league leaders." 

Service information

The Stadion An der Alten Försterei will open its gates and box office at 14:00. On Sunday, turnstile areas 1 and 2 will be open. Tickets for the game are available for purchase and at all Union stores, as well as online.

To avoid long lines at the entrances, fans are asked to arrive in good time. Limited parking is available in the car park in front of the main stand; the parking fee is €4.

The game will be broadcast live on AFTV+. There will also be a club-run live ticker for the game, as well as live updates in English throughout on Twitter