The Bundesliga is finally back! FC Bayern Women visit SC Freiburg in the opening fixture of the 2023/24 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. The Munich girls can not only look back on a successful previous campaign, but also an impressive winning run against the Breisgau team.
Five facts on away match at Freiburg
Winning streak: Alexander Straus and his team will be aiming to extend a run when they visit Freiburg on Friday. The Bavarians have won each of their last 10 Bundesliga meetings with SCF, with the last defeat coming in February 2018. Overall the two sides have faced off 56 times, with Bayern winning 48 and Freiburg coming out on top in the other eight.
Last meeting: Many fans will remember the last clash in particular, when FCB thrashed SCF 8-2 at the FC Bayern Campus. It was also Bayern's biggest ever win against the Breisgau outfit. Despite an even balance in terms of duels (51% for Bayern), it was in front of goal that Straus' side really had the upper hand. FCB rained down 30 shots on the Freiburg goal, while their opponents managed just four in return. Klara Bühl was a particular threat with seven sights of goal in the 90 minutes, and the Germany international was rewarded when she made it 8-1 in the closing stages.
Only penalty: Incidentally, that game also saw the only penalty given against Bayern in the whole of the 2022/23 campaign. Shortly before full time, Marie Müller stepped up and netted the final goal of the game. Goalkeeper Maria Luisa Grohs won't have minded too much, though, as it was just one of two times in the whole Bundesliga season that Bayern conceded more than one goal.
Bayern won 8-2 in the last meeting.
Defensive strength: In general, Bayern Women impressed defensively last season, which was of course crowned with the championship. With only eight goals conceded and 16 clean sheets, the Munich girls boasted by far the best reaguard in the league in 2022/23. They conceded less than half of the number of goals of the second-best defence, VfL Wolfsburg (17). 148 shots conceded and just five goals from set plays were also league highs. Bayern will be aiming to demonstrate that strength again in the new Bundesliga campaign.
Ever-present: One defender in particular stood out from this unit: Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir was the only outfield player in the whole league who didn't miss a single minute last term. The Iceland international also had the most touches of the ball in the league (2,263) and played the most passes (2,049), with an impressive 91% of them reaching a teammate (fourth in the league of those with at least 500 passes).
The preview of Friday's clash:
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