Derby against Recklinghausen: BVB women want to maintain concentration | OneFootball

The Borussia ladies have pulled no punches in their first two home games of the Regionalliga West season – 6-0 (against the Bayer Leverkusen U23s) and 7-0 (against the Borussia Mönchengladbach youth team) were the clear margins of victory at Stadion Rote Erde. Now it will be a matter of transferring that success to the road. Following their frustrating 4-3 defeat away to the 1. FC Köln U21 women's team on Matchday 4, the BVB women led by captain Paula Reimann are targeting three points in their away game against Recklinghausen.

“With a setback like that in the back of your minds, you of course have to clear your head first,” said Markus Högner, reflecting on his team's recent away performance. "We've already managed to do that quite well in the game against SV Thülen in the Westfalenpokal. In the league game against Borussia Mönchengladbach II, the players were highly focused from the start and that meant we were able to win the game very comfortably, thanks in part to the early goals,” declared the coach.

The match against Recklinghausen will not only be a derby for the BVB women, but also the first time they will face a team that is not a reserve side in the Regionalliga this season. With four points from three games, Recklinghausen – who are currently being managed by assistant coach Johannes Brune-Gringmuth – sit in eighth place in the table. For Markus Högner, however, the league position at this early stage of the season is not particularly meaningful: “Recklinghausen have players who have already gained experience in higher divisions. They are very robust and strong in the challenges, so we will have to focus absolutely on our fundamentals.” By this he means good tackling and defensive play as well as clear and clean passing play. “If we show all of that on the pitch on Sunday and trust our own strengths, surprise moments like the one in Cologne won't knock us off our stride again.”

There is positive news on the personnel front: Celina Baum has returned to action for the second team following her injury, while Frederike Kempe is back in team training too – but the latter is not yet in contention for the match against Recklinghausen. In addition, defender Melanie Schuster is currently out with a long-term injury (torn cruciate ligament). All other players are available to play.

The team and coaches are looking forward to raucous Black & Yellow support at Stimberg-Stadion. Kick-off in the match in Oer-Erkenschwick will be at 16:00 CEST. The ticket office will be open from 14:00 CEST on Sunday (€10 full price, €5 discount price). In addition, all of Borussia's home and away games in the Regionalliga West are being shown live and exclusively by Pluto TV.

Robert Targan