Grins on the grass: FCB Women complete first session with ball

It was just after 11:30 when FC Bayern Women took to the training field at the FC Bayern Campus in glorious weather on Monday morning. The first step onto the grass, the first session of the new season – and the delight was clear to see in the faces of Klara Bühl, Pernille Harder and Co as they finally returned to the pitch after almost two months. 

Head coach José Barcala welcomed his team for the start of preparations for the 2026/27 season. Together with his coaching staff, the Spaniard gathered the players in the centre circle – a brief moment of quiet before things kicked off. fcbayern.com reports from the opening session of the new campaign.

📸 The best photos from the first session: 

Gym then grass

Monday morning was the first session on the pitch, but the players had already put some work in before that on Sunday with the performance tests. Now it was the part that the players certainly prefer: instead of lactate values and measuring devices it was running and crossing, the grass under their feet.

Barcala stuck with a classic structure for the opening session, with a light warm-up followed by lots of ball work. Initially it was about activation and rhythm, then passing drills on various pitches. In between there was quick chats, a pat on the shoulder or a laugh. Kathi Naschenweng clearly enjoyed the workout – for the defender, it was much more than just the start of another pre-season: “The excitement was huge – you realise how much we’ve missed the ball at our feet, the girls and all the staff. Now we’re happy to be back here, working together on our goals and taking the next step in pre-season with the trip to Japan.”

Those feelings were shared by Lena Oberdorf, who saw the first couple of days back at the Campus as a good transition from holiday to regular training: “The break did me good. The first session on the pitch was really fun, the standard was surprisingly high for a start. And Japan will be something completely new for us: a cool country, intensive training and hopefully a bit of time to explore everything.”

Barcala: ‘Great to be back on the pitch’

Barcala gave a thoroughly positive assessment after the first session – while already looking ahead: “It’s great to be back on the pitch – with new faces in the staff and in the squad, new energy but the same identity, the same standards and the same quality. Now it’s about drilling in those standards, refining the processes and gradually getting to grips with the dynamic of the team. Our aim is clear: we want to get better as a team through every individual becoming even more independent, assured on the ball and stable under pressure. We’ve got five weeks of pre-season to do that – there’s no rush but also no time to lose,” explained the Spaniard, who’s going into his second season with the Munich club.

Attention turns to Japan

And the double winners don’t have much time in Munich before setting off for Tokyo next week. The Munich girls will be in Japan from 21 to 27 July for the Allianz Women’s Tour 2026, where they’ll play their first friendly against RB Omiya Ardija on 25 July (kick-off 10:00 CEST).

Following their return to Germany, it continues with a friendly against 1. FC Nürnberg in Donauwörth. The final warm-up match before the start of competitive action takes place at Sportpark Unterhaching on 9 August (16:00 CEST) with a standout clash against Paris FC.

An intensive period of preparations then ends with the first shot at a title: on 15 August (19:30 CEST), FC Bayern Women take on VfL Wolfsburg for the Google Pixel Supercup at the Audi Sportpark in Ingolstadt, looking to claim the first trophy of the season for the third year in a row. Just a week later, the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga campaign kicks off with the Munich girls travelling to 1. FC Union Berlin on 21 August (18:20 CEST).

All the details on the highlight friendly in Unterhaching:

How the performance tests at the FC Bayern Campus went:

The summer plans at a glance: