RB Leipzig women with some question marks before the start of the season
The RB Leipzig women's Bundesliga goal for the season is already clear: sixth place. How RBL coach Stephan's team will get there is less clear. There are still some areas to work on before the season starts.
There needs to be more for the Bundesliga season to kick off – that's the unanimous opinion among the RB Leipzig women's Bundesliga team. One week before the opening match on Saturday (September 6, 2025, 2 p.m.) at 1. FC Köln, the Leipzig women struggled to a 1-1 draw against relegation candidate Jena in the dress rehearsal. "I'm not entirely satisfied," said RBL coach Jonas Stephan about the test. "You could see that we still have a bit of work to do," reacted sporting director Viola Odebrecht, annoyed.
Eleven new signings - top performers are goneCoach Stephan had to integrate eleven new signings in the summer. Among the players who left the club was top performer and goalscorer Vanessa Fudalla , who moved to Leverkusen. Defender Michela Croatto (17 games) and midfielder Lydia Andrade (15 games) were also regular starters last season.
The test matches this summer were mixed. In addition to victories against league rivals Wolfsburg (3-2) and Hamburg (1-0), the RBL women lost to Slavia Prague (1-3), drew against Jena (1-1), and Dutch first division side Zwolle (2-2).
Odebrecht: "It's difficult for everyone to go in the same direction""I wouldn't say our new players are having a hard time integrating," explained Odebrecht. "But it's difficult on the pitch for everyone to be moving in the same direction, for everyone to have the same idea." RBL coach Stephan isn't quite so critical of his team. Control of the game and possession had been quite good beforehand. "The key point was creating scoring opportunities," was the 33-year-old's analysis, who, looking ahead to the Bundesliga opener, demands: "We have to score more goals against Cologne."
Overall, Stephan expressed his satisfaction with the preparations. "We still need time and patience, and we will learn the hard way. But we are satisfied."
Average age of new entrants: 20 yearsA few promising talents are new to the team; the average age of the new signings was just 20. The players who left had an average age of 24.1. Among the newcomers are striker Delica Boboy from Leverkusen, defender Diana Nemeth from Wolfsburg, Andrea Norheim from Portugal's top club Sporting Lisbon, and Ghana's U20 international Persis Oteng , who transferred to Leipzig from the Tottenham Hotspur youth system.
Sixth place as season goalOdebrecht sets his goal for the season: "I'm happy with the squad. We want to finish in the top six." Stephan explains how he intends to achieve this: "We want to be among the teams with the strongest sprints." In preseason, his team has already sprinted twice as much as last year. Therefore, despite the mixed results in recent friendlies, the coach draws a positive interim conclusion: "I'm totally satisfied with our development. We're very fit, we can work intensively against the ball. We've laid a good foundation."
Cologne is followed by Bavaria and FrankfurtThe opening fixture features an away game in Cologne, a home game in a large stadium against champions Bayern Munich. Then, a tough match in Frankfurt and two manageable challenges against Hamburg and Nuremberg await.
Dirk Hofmeister
sportschau
