Friendly against Tigres “will be a great experience for us”

It’s the first game of 2023 for FC Bayern Women as they take on Tigres Femenil in a friendly as part of the FC Bayern Women’s Tour to Mexico. The match at the Estadio Universitario in Monterrey kicks off at 17:00 local time on Saturday, 21 January (00:00 CET into Sunday). You can watch the game live with English commentary on the FC Bayern YouTube channel, with Spanish commentary on the FC Bayern Frauen channel. A stream without commentary can be found on the Women’s Facebook page.

State of play

Coach Alexander Straus and his team went into the winter break on a high after qualifying impressively for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League on the back of 15 of a possible 18 points in a group with Barcelona, Benfica and Rosengard. Bayern are also into the last eight of the DFB Cup, where they will take on Hoffenheim on Tuesday, 28 February. Die Frauen are also second in the FLYERALARM Bundesliga, five points off leaders Wolfsburg.

After resuming training at the FC Bayern Campus, the team then went out to Doha for a training camp between 10 and 14 January. Sydney Lohmann, Georgia Stanway and Co. then moved on to Mexico last Tuesday. As well as further training sessions in Monterrey, Bayern will also prepare for the resumption of the second half of the season against Turbine Potsdam on Sunday, 5 February with the friendly match against Tigres. 

The opposition

Tigres created a women’s team in 2016 and they are the reigning champions in Mexico after beating Club America in the final last November. It isn’t the only recent success for the team coached by Carmelina Moscato, herself a former defender with 94 caps for Canada. The Amazonas have won five titles in the last five years, making them the most decorated club in Mexico. They also boast excellent support with the highest average attendance of all teams in the Liga MX Femenil at their 42,000-capacity Estadio Universitario.

Squad update

A total of 21 players have come on the FC Bayern Women’s Tour and are all available for coach Straus in this friendly.

Pre-match quotes

Straus: “I’m expecting a team who can play, who want lots of possession. But we still want to control the game. The friendly is important for us to try out a few things and get minutes in our legs. But as soon as we pull on the shirt, we want to perform and win the game. It’ll be a great experience for us to play in this stadium in front of so many enthusiastic fans.”

Linda Dallmann: “Tigres are a very good side, so I’m looking forward to a strong opponent. I think it’ll be a good test for us. There will also be lots of fans inside the stadium. It’ll be a great atmosphere and I hope it’ll be a good game for us.”

We also spoke with Sydney Lohmann out in Mexico: