World Sevens Football: FC Bayern Women to face Manchester City, Ajax & Rosengard

FC Bayern Women will take on Ajax, Rosengard and Manchester City in the group stage of the World Sevens Football tournament (W7F) in Estoril, Portugal from 21 May. The new competition features eight top teams from across women’s football in Europe, a smaller pitch for seven-a-side and also unlimited substitutions. Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, Benfica and Roma complete the other group and are potential opponents for Alexander Straus’s team in Friday’s semi-final, third-place match or final. All games are being played at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota.

Rech: “Going with decent ambitions”

Bianca Rech, director of women’s football: “We’re really excited about the World Sevens Football tournament in Estoril. We’re going there with decent ambitions and would obviously like to win it. We put the decision on competing at the tournament to the players several weeks ago and are pleased they want to take part. We’ll travel to Portugal with the whole team, but not everyone will play. Some will continue their recovery from injury there, while some players who are going to be competing at the Euros will train separately to prepare for the international games coming up. All in all, it should be a nice end to the season for us all.”

The rules:

• Matches of seven-v-seven
• Unlimited, rolling substitutions
• Played on a half-size pitch
• No offsides
• Matches of 2x15-minute halves
• In the event of a draw, five minutes of added time will be played, with teams reduced to five-a-side and with golden goal
• A sudden death penalty shootout follows if still tied
• Prize money for the tournament is $5 million 

Fixtures and squad

The eight teams are split into two groups of four. Bayern’s games over the first two days are (in local time, WEST):

• Ajax, 21 May, 7pm
• Rosengard, 22 May, 2.30pm
• Manchester City, 22 May, 6.30pm

On 23 May, the top two from each group will contest the semi-finals. The two losers will later play in the third-place match, followed by the final. Bayern will take their full squad to Portugal apart from Franziska Kett and Alara Şehitler, who have their school exams to finish in Munich. Maria Plattner and Elira Terakaj from the second team will fill their places.

Tickets and discount code

Tickets are available in various price categories with day passes, passes for all three days (general admission, including opening party) or in the VIP section. Details and tickets can be found on worldsevensfootball.com. FC Bayern members can get a 25 percent discount on general admission tickets with the code BAYERN25.

How to watch

Every match is being broadcast live and for free by DAZN. They will also be available through fcbayern.com.

Bayern have a big highlight to come after the summer break: