The final international break of the year is over and FC Bayern Women resume their campaign away at Essen in the Google Pixel Bundesliga on Saturday (2pm CET). Having beaten Carl Zeiss Jena 5-0 in the most recent league outing, the Munich Frauen want to turn that into a winning run again. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our preview.
Alexander Straus has to prepare Bayern for two more Bundesliga games and two more Champions League fixtures this year. | © FC Bayern
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The 2024/25 Bundesliga season is 10 games old, with Bayern sitting in third place after seven wins, two draws and one loss. The gap to leaders Wolfsburg is only two points coming into Matchday 11, though. Alexander Straus’s team’s last league outing in November saw goals from Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir, Klara Bühl, Jovana Damnjanović and a Lea Schüller brace earn a 5-0 win over Jena.
The squad then had a trip across Europe, first to Oslo in the UEFA Women’s Champions League and then to Freiburg in the DFB Cup, where Bayern progressed to the quarter-finals in both competitions. A 1-1 draw against Valerenga was enough in Europe, while a 2-1 win in Freiburg ensured domestic cup progression.
Go behind the scenes of the trip to Oslo and Freiburg:
Opponent: Essen
Essen have been waiting since the middle of October for a win, earning just a single point over the last four league fixtures and failing to score in any of them. They come into the matchday in ninth place with eight points. Last time out the Purple-Whites were knockout out of the DFB Cup by Borussia Mönchengladbach.
The one certainty in the Essen team is goalkeeper Sophia Winkler, who has the best save rate in the division at 83 percent and has statistically prevented an extra 4.6 goals. Winkler also made her senior debut for Germany during the break in the 6-0 win over Switzerland.
Team news
Straus takes his team to Essen still without Lena Oberdorf (cruciate ligament), Katharina Naschenweng (knee) and Mala Grohs (illness). Magou Doucouré will also miss out as she’s been sick. Franziska Kett returned to team training last week following her ankle injury, but it’s still too soon for her to feature again.
Bayern won both meetings with Essen 2-0 last season. | © FC Bayern / Eva Dippold
Pre-match quotes
Alexander Straus: “Essen are a really good team. We had problems with them last year, and since I’ve been here all games against Essen have been difficult. They play with speed and physicality. We need to give our best if we want to win.”
Jovana Damnjanović: “Essen definitely won’t just sit back. They’re a good team who use the whole pitch, so we’ll prepare for all possible scenarios. We want to play our way but also have to see how the opponent do things, and then look to use the space and gaps.”
Find out how Bayern’s internationals got on during the break:
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