Having already played two friendlies with them over the last two summers, 1. FC Union Berlin’s women’s team will once again host MKS Pogon Szczecin on 26 January 2025. Kick off at the Fritz-Lesch-Sportplatz in Adlershof on Sunday is at 13:00.

The lie of the land

The first half of the season in the Ekstraliga kobiet, the Polish top flight, ended for Szczecin at the beginning of Novemberwith a 3-2 win over APLG Gdańsk to finish the year in third place. The second half of the season in Poland does not start until March, so Pogon are currently in the middle of a four-month winter break.

Last weekend, Union concluded a nine-day training camp in Oliva Nova with a friendly against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. In their first game of the year, the Berliners put in a strong performance and held their own against the fourth-placed team in the Bundesliga. Winter signing Nele Bauereisen scored the equaliser on her Union debut, but shortly before the end, Leverkusen managed to snatch a 2-1 win.

The opponents

Pogon Szczecin were crowned Polish champions for the first time in the club's history last season. Consequently, the club also took part in the first qualifying round of the Champions League for the first time, but lost 1-0 to Servette FC to a single goal scored in injury time.

In the league, Piotr Leczynski, who has been on the sidelines since 2023, is once again in charge of a side in good form. With nine wins from 11 games, Pogon are currently occupying 3rd place in a table led by last season’s runners-up, GKS Kattowitz, who finished the first half of the season without dropping any points. Last season, Kattowitz only lost out to Szczecin in the title race due to their weaker goal difference.

Pogon's top scorer is 27-year-old forward Kornelia Okoniewska, who is second in the Ekstraliga scoring charts with nine goals this season.

The head to head

The two previous matches were both won by Union’s women. In the summer of 2023, there was a 2-1 away win in Szczecin before, last summer, they followed this up with a 3-2 victory in Bad Saarow. Union’s goals that day were scored by Lisa Heiseler, Korina Janez and Naika Reissner.

The personnel

Union's head coach Ailien Poese will have to do without Cara Bösl, Sophie Trojahn, Maria Cristina Lange, Katja Orschmann and Sarah Abu Sabbah on Sunday.

The coach’s views ahead of the game

‘Szczecin are doing well in the Polish first division and have shown a high level of aggressiveness and enthusiasm in each of their past games,” said Union’s head coach, Ailien Poese, ahead of Sunday’s friendly. “We are looking forward to another competitive game and want to put the content from the training camp into practice on Sunday – we want to remain defensively stable and create and take our opportunities in attack.”

Service information

The game will kick off at 13:00 on Sunday at the Fritz-Lesch-Sportplatz on Dörpfeldstraße. Admission is free. For those who cannot be there in person, Union will provide information about the game via the club's own live ticker.