Monday Night in the Bundesliga
Union's Women Look to Derail Bremen
In the third Monday match of their current Bundesliga season, the women’s team of 1. FC Union Berlin will face SV Werder Bremen. Kick off in the Stadion An der Alten Försterei is at 18:00
The lie of the land
SV Werder Bremen were able to end a comparative crisis recently with their 4-2 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt. Before that, Werder had consecutive draws in the league and were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the DFB Pokal by relegation candidates, SGS Essen.
Union, meanwhile, earned a superb point on their return from the international break with a 2-2 draw against RasenBallsport Leipzig. In a btightly fought match, Sophie Weidauer and Samantha Steuerwald scored for Union early in both halves.
With their victory over Eintracht, SV Werder Bremen have already achieved the best points tally in their nine-year Bundesliga history. With 32 points, their previous best performance, last season's 29 points, has been surpassed. Werder could not only finish in the top half of the table for the first time, but still harbour dreams of participating in the Champions League. Bremen, with two games in hand, sit currently in fifth, only four points off third.
A crucial contributor is undoubtedly striker Larissa Mühlhaus, who, with twelve goals, not only ranks second on the league's goalscoring list, but has also been directly involved in almost two-thirds of all Werder goals with 17 goal involvements. No player in the Bundesliga has a higher percentage. During the international break, the 23-year-old also made her debut for the German national team, scoring her first goal immediately.
Meanwhile, Werder's head coach Friederike Kromp has established herself as a thorn in Union's side over the past 18 months. Last season, Kromp's Eintracht Frankfurt II inflicted both of Union's only second division defeats. She also maintained the upper hand, as her Bremen side beat Union late last year, 3-0.
SV Werder Bremen have won all five competitive matches between the two teams so far. With four 2. Liga wins over ten years ago, Bremen also won the first Bundesliga fixture between the sides.
Sophie Weidauer played in Bremen from 2023 to 2025, scoring 14 goals in 49 appearances for the Northerners. Previously, Samantha Steuerwald also wore the Werder jersey from 2018 to 2020 in eight top-flight and six second division appearances. Furthermore, rehabilitation and athletic coach Bao Nguyen was active in the same role in Bremen for one and a half years until last season.
Union's coaching staff will have to do without the services of Alma Aagaard, Anna Aehling, Korina Janež, Mariann Noack, and Tomke Schneider on Monday.
"We want to bring the energy and passion of the last games back onto the pitch," said Union head coach, Ailien Poese, during midweek. "During this long training week, we have sharpened up several processes in different areas, and are aware of Bremen's strengths and intensity. They have had a very successful and solid season so far, but we want to face that with great determination."
Tickets for the match are available for general sale at all Union's Zeughaus stores as well as online. Parking permits for the spaces in front of the main stand can be purchased online and on site for the price of €8. The Stadion An der Alten Försterei opens its gates and the ticket office at 17:00.
There are still extensive traffic disruptions in public transport, and a replacement bus service is being provided on the tram line "Altstadt Köpenick". All visitors are advised to arrive early.
The match will be broadcast live in Germany on DAZN, MagentaSport, and Sport1.Union will provide updates via the club's own live ticker, as well as English reports on twitter. As ever, a comprehensive, English-only match report will be published on the Union website shortly after the final whistle
