Women

“Always a special game”

An interview with Kristin Demann ahead of the Wolves’ clash with FC Bayern Munich.

VfL-Spielerin Kristin Demann im Zweikampf.

The last time VfL Wolfsburg Women visited the FC Bayern Campus, they triumphed 5-0 in the semi-finals of the 2022/23 DFB Cup. Ahead of the teams’ latest meeting in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga on Sunday (kick-off 15:00 CET), Kristin Demann tells us what the She-Wolves’ non-international players got up to in Wolfsburg over the past few days and what will determine the outcome of the encounter in Munich.

Kristin Demann, a lot of your team-mates were away with their national teams last week and there was just a small group of you in training. What did you get up to?

Kristin Demann: “It was very intensive as always, and we did a lot of individual work. It’s a very useful time to work on positional patterns of play. Since Monday, we’ve been focusing more on the game against Bayern.”

What kind of game are you expecting?

Kristin: “I think it’ll be a very intense match. We’re playing in Munich and Bayern obviously want to win at home. I’m expecting an even game which will likely be decided by minor details.”

You played for Bayern between 2017 and 2022. Do you still have a lot of contact with anyone from Munich?

Kristin: “I obviously still know a lot of people in Munich, so I’m looking forward to playing at the Campus again. It’s always a special game there, and not just because of the sporting circumstances.”

Bayern made some big signings in the summer, including Pernille Harder and Magdalena Eriksson. What do you make of their development?

Kristin: “They have very big ambitions, as do we. They made good signings in the summer, which underlined how important the whole process is for them. And so I’m very excited about the game this weekend, with first place in the table at stake.”

What will you need to do to emerge victorious on Sunday?

Kristin: “In the second half of the Hoffenheim game, you could tell that we reacted well and fought back as a team in a difficult situation. That was important. With everyone returning from national-team duty, we now need to flip the switch and settle into our game. We need to gel very quickly as a team again.”