Final warm-up tests for the BVB women: victory over Bundesliga club Leverkusen | OneFootball

.The long winter break, from which head coach Markus Högner draws many positives, is coming to an end. After the friendly wins against regional league sides Saarbrücken (5-1) and Victoria Hamburg (11-0), Högner’s impression that the team is well on track in their preparations was confirmed. The BVB women reinforced this feeling in their final two dress rehearsals against Jena and Leverkusen.

Minor setbacks against Carl Zeiss Jena

“We tried out a lot of things in our first game against a strong counter-attacking Carl Zeiss Jena team,” explained the head coach. After 13 minutes, Annika Enderle put the Black & Yellows 1-0 up. The visitors then found answers to the high pressing and turned the game around before Paula Reimann reduced the deficit to 4-2 in the 46th minute. The team had further chances to score a third goal but was unable to add to their tally.

The BVB women quickly put the 6-2 defeat behind them in view of the task ahead. “We prepared well again this week. The players also underwent performance diagnostics, which showed that the team has improved across the board,” said Markus Högner about the week between the two friendly matches.

A big statement against Bayer 04 Leverkusen

Against Leverkusen, fifth in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga table, the coaching team rotated five positions. Alongside Laura van der Laan, who returned in goal, Marina Scholz, Ronja Leubner, Celina Baum and Frederike Kempe were also in the starting line-up. The Black & Yellows got off to a flying start, taking the lead after just 24 seconds. “A very good energetic performance,” said the coach, praising striker Jasmin Jabbes, who followed up on a long ball and successfully scored to make it 1-0.

Despite having less possession, the BVB women gave the Bundesliga side few chances to score and focused on counter-attacks themselves. “We became more courageous in the second half and got even more relief from substitutions from the 60th minute onwards,” summarised Markus Högner. In the end, the Borussia women celebrated a 1-0 victory at the Rote Erde stadium.

“Now we go back into the league with a sense of achievement and confidence,” said Markus Högner immediately after the match. Next Sunday, the BVB women will travel to Mönchengladbach for an away game in the Regionalliga West. The match against Borussia's second team will kick off at 12:00 CET at the Am Haus Lütz sports complex. The game will also be broadcast live and free of charge on Pluto TV.

All the friendly matches at a glance