Battle of the league's best defences: FCB Women entertain Hoffenheim

Back to Bundesliga business: FC Bayern Women have not had long to dwell on their bitter exit in the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League against FC Barcelona. On Wednesday evening, the German champions host TSG Hoffenheim at the FC Bayern Campus at 18:00 CEST on Matchday 24.

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Bayern were just missing that bit of luck to pull off a stunning result at Camp Nou. Arianna Caruso could hardly have struck the ball better in the 79th minute, but instead of nestling in the net, the ball bounced off the crossbar back into play – no goal. Just four minutes later, the woodwork was shaking again, this time it was Linda Dallmann whose effort was just centimetres away. These missed opportunities prevented the Munich girls from advancing to the final in Oslo as they went down to a 4-2 defeat against the Blaugrana after an intensive 90 minutes.

While José Barcala’s side squandered their opportunities, Salma Paralluelo, Alexia Putellas twice and Ewa Pajor took theirs at the other end. Having been briefly level through Dallmann’s equaliser, Pernille Harder scored the goal in the 71st minute that made it 4-2 and revived hopes of taking the tie to extra time, but it wasn’t to be.

Now the German champions face Hoffenheim with the chance to extend their impressive run of 20 consecutive Bundesliga wins. The current record of 23 victories on the bounce was set by VfL Wolfsburg in the 2022/23 season – with wins in their remaining league fixtures, FCB can equal this best. That won’t be easy, however, as fifth-placed TSG come to the FC Bayern Campus with the second-best defence in the division.

Hoping to keep another clean sheet against Hoffenheim: FCB goalkeeper Ena Mahmutovic. | © FC Bayern / Eva Dippold

Opponents: Hoffenheim

Hoffenheim celebrated an impressive 6-2 success against 1. FC Köln last time out, with Selina Cerci netting a hat-trick as well as assisting two of the other goals. The German international is now level with Harder at the top of the Bundesliga scoring chart with 15 goals. As well as that, Thomas Johrden’s side have the second most solid defence in the league with 29 goals conceded, way behind Bayern who have let in just eight, and are third in the away table.

The Hoffenheim women are up against their self-confessed bogey team on Wednesday, though. The last time they got anything against Bayern was back in April 2021. Since then, all nine meetings between the teams have ended in Munich victories – including a 5-1 win in Sinsheim on Matchday 11 this season.

Momoko Tanikawa scored twice in Bayern Women's 5-1 win at Hoffenheim earlier in the season. | © FC Bayern / Eva Dippold

Team news

Barcala is still without long-term absentees Sarah Zadrazil and Lena Oberdorf (both cruciate ligament). Jovana Damnjanović is in individual training and is still some way off a return.

Magdalena Eriksson and Bayern Women are looking forward to the clash with fifth-placed TSG. | © FC Bayern / Eva Dippold

Pre-match quotes

José Barcala: “We’ve not had much time to prepare, so we need to face Hoffenheim with a very clear identity. We want to be dominant, have a lot of possession and impose our game over 90 minutes. Regardless of who starts, we need to maintain our standards, execute our game and perform.”

Franziska Kett: “I think we’re in for a tough game against Hoffenheim. The teams who play against us at the Campus always give everything and want to get a result here. We need to be ready for that. Even though we’ve already won the title, we still need to perform at our best because we absolutely want to win this match. That requires all of us and we want to show our quality on the pitch. We’re looking forward to playing in front of our fans at the Campus and to a good match.”

Mala Grohs is leaving FC Bayern Women at the end of the season: