No-one ever said it was going to be easy.

Ailien Poese always knew that 1. FC Union Berlin’s first ever Bundesliga season was going to be anything but a walk in the park, but even she couldn’t have foreseen the flood of injuries that would ravage her squad. But here they were, with only five outfield players on the bench, three of them teenagers, drafted in from the U23 team, in Carla Okoro, Mariann Noack and Leona Seifert. Three more, Celine Frank, Ida Heikkinen and Korina Janež, were making their first starts of the season. That Janež would leave the pitch supported only by the arms of Katja Orschmann and a physio only added more pain to the day.

Still, they had the worst possible start. After 25 seconds Maja Sternad played a pass to Lina Hausicke. The Bremen midfielder seemed to have given up reaching it as Tomke Schneider tried to shield the ball, but before it crossed the byline she reached a boot out and somehow dragged it back into the patch of Sternad, continuing her run. She took a touch and beat Cara Bösl.

Poese, all in black from her woolly hat to her trainers, was speechless, and her team-mates looked stunned. Bremen looked to rub salt in the wounds, remembering the way that Leverkusen had gone two up in the opening minutes back in the second game of the season. Schneider, cursing herself, tried to make up for her mistake; she tackled Hausicke, flying into her on the right, before winning a header ahead of Larissa Mühlhaus in the box.

The guests composed themselves. In Leverkusen, after all, they had fought gainfully back into the game, and after Janež’s sober turn and lay-off, Anna Weiß almost sent Sophie Weidauer away with a long diagonal.

But Bremen were in charge as ten minutes was played – they could take their time - and Janež conceded a free kick, 30 yards out, when she brought down Julianne Wirtz, getting a yellow card for her troubles. Katja Orschmann joined her in the book five minutes later when she caught Verena Wieder late. Medina Desic should have done better from the resulting free kick hit deep towards the back post, when she was left free to volley wide.

As the rain fell, making the pitch heavy, only making the Union players’ afternoon ever more difficult, Bremen pushed and pushed, hemming Union back into their own half, like they were caught in a spiderweb, tightening on them the more they wriggled to get free. Desic complained as her header flew past Bösl, disbelieving that Mühlhaus’s corner that she met firmly with a header, had gone out before it found her.

But as the half wore on, there were moments, little moments, that gave hope. Weidauer, fresh off the back of her brace for Germany’s U23s in the week, looked to lead by example against her former side, a whirring blur of motion up top, dropping deep, drifting out towards the left from where she almost found Halverkamps and Heikkinen, both trying to find the same pocket of space in the box.

Heiseler turned wonderfully in the centre-circle, evading her marker and setting Heikkinen away on the left. She was dragged down by Michelle Ulbrich with 40 minutes gone as she tried hold the ball up. Hanna Nemeth threw herself at Janež’s drive from range after 40 minutes; she had to react to stab the ball out for a corner as Heikkinen loomed behind her after 44.

 At the back, too, they had restricted Bremen to pot-shots, and when Sternat ggot space in the box at last, Weiß raced across to make the challenge.

As half time loomed, Schneider’s day got even tougher, as she too got a booking for her late tackle on Chiara D’Angelo. Union went into the break wondering how they were going to get themselves back into the game.

The second half started with Poese’s worries piling up, as Samantha Steuerwald crumpled to the floor, the ball a world away. She struggled back to her feet, but this was the last thing that Union needed to see. Poese had made no changes at the break and didn’t want to start now.

Bremen weren’t going to let up their pressure, neither, and they doubled their lead when Hausicke hit their next corner deep, seeing it knocked back across goal by Desic for Sternad, who grabbed her brace with a simple headed finish, if one taken under pressure as she loitered near the rusting back post.

Then, with 50 minutes gone, it got worse. Janež reached for a Weiß pass, twisting her knee on the wet turf as she landed. She was led off in agony, helped by a physio and by Katja Orschmann. The 16-year-old Leona Seifert replaced her in a move that was of course a great reason to celebrate, but also one that showed the brutality of Union’s personnel situation right now. Seifert was fearless, however, and she tackled Hausicke with certainty on the half way line, but Bremen’s lead was restricted after the hour only by the equally brave Cara Bösl, who stood up to the charging Wieder, and took her close-range shot to the face.

Bremen’s dominance was illustrated when their tenth corner came, and again Bösl was called upon, this time coming out to punch clear, crashing into Desic as she came. Poese finally rung in the changes with 20 minutes to go, as Dina Orschmann, Judith Steinert and Mariann Noack replaced Heikkinen, Weidauer and Katja Orschmann.

In her third Bundesliga game, Noack, slipping into central defence, already looked confident, taking the ball out from the back and finding Dina Orschmann. Her ball was intended for Halverkamps, but it had too much on it. Steinert – whos appearance was a rare ray of light, returning from her own injury lay-off – started off by taking a crunching tackle from Desic.

With 12 minutes to go, Union’s deficit was kept to two by Bösl, who tipped Hausicke’s shot wide with her fingertips, at full stretch, diving to her right. But when Mühlhaus found herself with the ball at her feet, and time to compose herself, she had no chance. She finished calmly to make it 3-0.

The goal had seen Carla Okoro already on the touchline, ready to replace the exhausted Halverkamps, but the game was largely summed up by the sight of Frank trudging off with 90 minutes already up, grimacing, the dream of her Bundesliga debut having turned into a slog.

Union finished the game with only ten players on the pitch; three of them 17 or younger. In the city known for the fairytale, Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten, this had become Grimm reading.

"I was very happy about my debut, it felt good. Still, it's a shame, we fought and tried to give it our all and left our hearts on the pitch, but it wasn't enough," analyzed debutant Celine Frank.

“There is a lot of disappointment and sadness involved, considering the defeat but also simply in light of our current situation with the injuries. It is nice to be back here on place eleven, where we tried to give everything today – that will also be the key for the coming week,” explained former Werder player Sophie Weidauer.

“We gave it our all - it was an enormous fight. A game that had few scoring opportunities, but in the end, the more effective team deservedly won. Honestly, we created too few chances, but still sacrificed until the last minute,” summarized head coach Ailien Poese the today's game.