BVB women travel to Köln for last match of first half of the season | OneFootball

Even before kick-off, things got pretty emotional at BVB's home game against SGS Essen's U21 in Rote Erde Stadium, last weekend: the fans in the stands greeted BVB striker Dana Marquardt, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear a week earlier in the game against Gütersloh, with encouraging chants. Her teammates responded straight away to this setback by securing a comfortable 4-0 home win against the Essen team. “We delivered a solid performance and showed the crucial team spirit we need right now,” said head coach looking back. “Being the dominant team throughout, we controlled the game until the last minute. We need to build on that on Sunday.”

“Living up to our role as favourites”

Om Matchday 13 in the Regionalliga West, which also concludes the first half of the season, the Black & Yellows will face Vorwärts Spoho Köln, an opponent currrently sitting in ninth place with two wins, seven draws and three lost games. Markus Högner expects “an established Regionalliga team with experienced players like Gianna Rackow and Ann-Kathrin Vinken, who have already played in the Bundesliga.” BVB will prepare for a strong opponent adding: “We will of course go into this game as favourites, and we intend to live up to that role.”

During the week, several Borussia players, including Ronja Leubner, Nora Willeke, Marah Tayeh and Deniese Lichatschow, returned to training after having been down with the flu. Good news for Markus Högner who, looking at upcoming Regionalliga games and also the Westfalenpokal away game against Schalke 04 (21 november, 20:00 CET) says: “Especially during the cold November and December period, it's important to keep a balanced mix of training sessions and recovery. As coaching staff, we have the responsibility to gradually bring players back into the team after recovering from a cold and not overdo things.”

The match against Vorwärts Spoho Köln will kick off at 15:30 CET and is played on the artificial turf pitch of Nordfeld (Walter-Binder Weg, 50933 Köln). Entrance is free of charge. For those not able to attend the game, it will be broadcast live and also free of charge by Pluto TV.    Robert Targan