Women

Delayed Competitive Kickoff

The Wolves Women will host 1. FC Köln on Monday evening.

The VfL Wolfsburg women were originally scheduled to kick off the second half of the season last Saturday. However, due to weather conditions, their match at FC Carl Zeiss Jena was canceled. Now, the VfL women will begin their competitive year at the AOK Stadium, facing 1. FC Köln on Monday, February 2 (kick-off at 18:00 CET/live on MagentaSport, DAZN, and Sport1) on the 16th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga.

Internal Training Match Instead of Season Opener

The wintry weather conditions in Germany extended the VfL women’s winter break. Head coach Stephan Lerch’s team first prepared intensively for the second half of the season during a training camp in Malta, playing two successful friendlies: a 2-0 win against PSV Eindhoven and a dominant 5-0 victory over FC Basel.

After returning to Wolfsburg, the Green-Whites used an additional training week to continue preparing for the first competitive match of the year, which was supposed to take place at FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Due to the unplayable pitch at the ad hoc Arena in the Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld, the match was canceled. The rescheduled game is set for Wednesday, March 18 (kick-off at 18:00). Instead, the Wolves played an internal 11-a-side match, using the extended break to further prepare for their home opener against the FC Köln women.

FC Köln Women on the Rise

The first meeting in Cologne had been a close contest: Wolfsburg only secured a 2-1 away win in stoppage time, with Camilla Küver scoring the decisive header. Since then, the FC Köln women have stabilized significantly. After a series of defeats at the start of the season, they gradually found their rhythm and have now established themselves in the secure upper half of the table. With 24 points from 15 league games, the FC Köln women currently occupy sixth place, just three points behind third-placed SV Werder Bremen. Last weekend, Köln kicked off their competitive year with a narrow 1-0 victory against SC Freiburg. With this home win, the team also set a new club record, surpassing the previous best of 22 points from 22 matches.

Reunion with Six Former Wolves

Several players with a VfL past have contributed significantly to FC Köln’s positive development. In addition to head coach Britta Carlson, who recently extended her contract until June 30, 2028, several former Wolfsburg players from recent seasons are among the experienced forces in the Köln squad. Sara Agrez has logged the most minutes with 1,349, while Pauline Bremer is the second-highest scorer with three goals and two assists. Marina Hegering, Lisa Schmitz, and Anna-Lena Stolze also play key roles in shaping the FC Köln women.

VfL-Wolfsburg-Spielerin Lineth Beerensteyn im Zweikampf mit einer Gegenspielerin.

Before the match against the FC Köln women, VfL head coach Stephan Lerch spoke about…

…the squad: Caitlin Dijkstra has been back in full training for about a week and can be fully involved, but still needs some time to be at 100 percent. Smilla Vallotto will join the build-up training next week after her procedure; it will take some time before she is fully available. Cora Zicai is currently sick, Lena Lattwein brought an infection from the training camp and is training individually; this also requires more time. Janou Levels remains unavailable due to a persistent muscular injury, and her return date is currently unknown.

…the winter preparation: A lot has been achieved in the past four weeks of training, and we have managed to implement some new initiatives. Whether everything works immediately under competitive conditions cannot be fully predicted. I am confident that the right conclusions have been drawn from the first half of the season and that we are working consistently on them. The key will be to implement these things on the pitch. Then we will see how far the team currently is. Progress is clearly visible, which was our goal.

…FC Köln: We won the first match 2-1, but we know how resilient Köln is. There have been some changes during the season, and both teams have continued to develop. I expect a similarly aggressive game as in the first meeting, with high pressing and early disruption. The defensive work of the FC Köln women deserves recognition—they currently have the second-best defense in the league. At the same time, they are very dangerous offensively, making them a very challenging opponent. It will be crucial to be focused and present from the first minute. The preparation has been good. We know what to expect.