FC Bayern Women away at Köln in the Bundesliga

FC Bayern Women are back in Google Pixel Bundesliga action following the recent international break and midweek DFB Cup quarter-final away at Hamburg. José Barcala’s league leaders are away at Köln for Matchday 20 on Sunday. Kick-off at the Franz-Kremer-Stadion is at 17:00 CET. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our preview.

Latest news from Bayern

The defending double winners advanced to the semi-finals of the DFB Cup with a 3-0 win in front of a crowd of 12,638 at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion during the week. Edna Imade scored in the first six minutes, before Franziska Kett and substitute Natalia Padilla Bidas wrapped things up and set up a final-four clash with Essen.

Bayern’s record this season has been almost perfect, picking up 52 of a possible 54 points from their 18 Bundesliga fixtures. The one slip was a goalless draw against Carl Zeiss Jena. The only time a team has had a better record in the German top flight was FFC Frankfurt in 2004/05, when they had a flawless haul of 54 points.

Opponent: Köln

Things have been somewhat less joyful for Köln of late, who lost their most recent Bundesliga fixture before the break 2-1 away at Union Berlin. Britta Carlson’s side had also lost by the same scoreline to neighbours Bayer Leverkusen the week before.

The Cologne club sit eighth in the table on 25 points. They had a friendly match against second division Mainz to prepare for this game, winning 1-0 thanks to Pauline Bremer’s 85th-minute goal.

Team news

Coach Barcala remains without Sarah Zadrazil and Lena Oberdorf as they recover from their cruciate ligament injuries. Alara Şehitler (partial ACL tear), Klara Bühl (muscular), Jovana Damnjanović (workload) and Katharina Naschenweng (knee) are also unavailable.

Momoko Tanikawa is currently with Japan at the Women’s Asian Cup and also not available.

Pre-match quotes

José Barcala: “Köln will definitely challenge us. All the stats show Köln are one of the teams that press in the best and most intense way. So we’ve prepared for various scenarios of how we face them or what we can expect from them. But it’s more about playing our game and finding ways to control the game. We want to work our way into the final third and create good chances. And finally, it’s about being clinical in front of goal and taking our chances.”

Ena Mahmutovic: “We’re expecting an opponent that presses us hard. That’s definitely one of Köln’s strengths. We need to be prepared for that. We’re definitely taking Köln seriously, given they can be dangerous in attack, especially Weronika Zawistowska, who we know well.”

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Our report from the cup game in Hamburg: