Checking in on the Frauen-Bundesliga

Is this the weekend where Bayern or Wolfsburg click?

When a big game is scheduled in the opening weekends of the season, there is sometimes a sense of disappointment. Often early on in the season, the matches that you want to be explosive fizzle out somewhat with teams still finding their groove. It is hard to know when to properly start to assess the performances of sides, particularly in a league season as short as the one in most women’s leagues.

This Sunday sees two notably big games in Germany and in England. Arsenal host Manchester City in the WSL, with Bayern Munich playing Wolfsburg. The situation in the Frauen-Bundesliga is intriguing with both sides unbeaten in the league but neither in top form. There will likely be some post-international break rustiness but five matches into the season, this feels like the point where we might be able to pick up some firm conclusions.

For the past decade, Wolfsburg and Bayern have traded turns at the top of the table in Germany. The Frauen-Bundesliga has arguably been the most competitive of the European women’s leagues albeit only between two teams. You have to go back to the 2013/14 season for the last time someone else made the top two (FFC Frankfurt, who became Eintracht Frankfurt) and all the way to 2011/12 for a different winner. That was Turbine Potsdam who’s relegation from the Frauen-Bundesliga last year confirmed the shift towards traditionally big clubs that has been seen across Europe.

The pressure of having only one rival means that these head to head games take on extra stature. In the WSL, title challengers can expect that their rivals might drop points to any one of four teams. Last year Bayern Munich’s only loss in the league came against Wolfsburg. 

Bayern and Wolfsburg have both already dropped points however. Bayern’s opening night draw with Freiburg looked like it could be written off as the start of the season blues, but they drew again with Eintracht Frankfurt. Normally that would not necessarily be seen as the worst result in the world, but Eintracht have had their own issues at the start of the season.

Meanwhile Wolfsburg made a dominant start in the Frauen-Bundesliga but crashed out of the Champions League at the hands of Paris FC. Their exit in the second qualifying round ended an 11 year run of reaching, as a minimum, the quarter-finals of the competition. They then slipped to a two goal deficit against Hoffenheim in their last Frauen-Bundesliga game before the international break and, despite nicking a point in the end, look to be in a rocky place.

Without UWCL football, the pressure will be on Wolfsburg manager Tommy Stroot to deliver the Frauen-Bundesliga title that they missed out on last season. Bayern have not won back to back titles since the 2014/15 and 2015/16 season. The problem Stroot has is that defensively Wolfsburg continue to look all over the place.

Last year, they were much better in attack than Bayern but had a tendency to collapse defensively, with a 4-0 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt all but handing the title to their rivals at the end of last season. They also threw away a two goal lead in the Champions League final.

That issue has continued as they conceded five goals over two games to Paris FC. It has made Wolfsburg’s recruitment look particularly bizarre over the past couple of years. They have availed themselves of some of the most exciting attacking talents in European football but have rigidly stuck to Kathy Hendrich and Dominique Janssen at centre-back. They have a severe lack of pace in those areas whilst Lynn Wilms at right-back has repeatedly shown herself to be poor in 1v1 situations.

Even further up the pitch, talented prospects like Jule Brand have been overlooked in favour of older players like Svenja Huth in ways which are hard to make sense of. Brand has started every Frauen-Bundesliga match and already has three assists but did not start either of the UWCL games. Stroot is entering his third season at the club and despite reaching the Champions League final last season has failed to truly convince. 

Bayern, meanwhile, looked set to be one of the best teams in Europe this season on paper. Magdalena Eriksson and Pernille Harder arrived from Chelsea to add experience whilst Jill Baijings and Ana Guzman’s signings were nods to the future. The return of Giulia Gwinn from an ACL injury was also clearly a big boost.

But even the best laid plans of mice and men can often go awry.  Harder has, somewhat predictably, already picked up an injury. The 30 year old only managed 600 minutes for Chelsea last season because of hamstring surgery and although she returned in fantastic form for the end of the season, her injury record has reached the point where it is hard to rely on her regularly. Watching Bayern, there is a sense that the pieces still do not all fit together with their penchant for attacking midfielders meaning they regularly have to over rely on Klara Bühl for natural width. The recruitment of Katharina Naschenweng from Hoffenheim gives them another attacking fullback option but in matches against bigger teams, Bayern’s fullbacks struggle to get forward as effectively.

One intriguing storyline to keep an eye on this season is that of Hoffenheim. It has been three years since the last time that the club finished third when players like Jule Brand, Maxi Rall and Laura Wienroither were all starring. Hoffenheim have established themselves as one of the pre-eminent developers of young talent within the Frauen-Bundesliga, as well as being ready to sell on those young talents when the time comes, confident with the selection of players waiting behind. After a couple of fallow years, they seem once again ready to try and compete at the very top, with Pauline Krumbiegel’s return to form following an ACL injury notable. Beyond Krumbiegel, players like Erleta Memeti and Melissa Kössler seem to have properly settled into the team, whilst 18 year old Mara Alber looks set to be the next big name to come out of the club.

In their game against Wolfsburg, their first real challenge of the season, they were able to go 2-0 up and despite eventually drawing the game 2-2 it was an indication that they can compete in these matches. Whether the inexperience of their young squad will show as the season goes on - only time will tell- but they certainly provide an interesting addition in a Frauen-Bundesliga season where neither of the top two teams quite seems at it currently. 

One benefit Wolfsburg do have by being out of the Champions League is that they can make the Frauen-Bundesliga their full focus. Bayern have been drawn in this year’s ‘Group of Death’ with Ajax, Paris Saint-Germain and Roma. None of those matches will be walkovers and Bayern’s attention will be forced to be split between the league and their European fixtures. It will also give Stroot more time to try and find a greater balance in the system. But that time might not be worth much if they lose to Bayern this weekend.