At first glance, two worlds are colliding. 1. FFC Frankfurt have been dominant at home so far in this Allianz Frauen-Bundesliga campaign. From four games in their own stadium, Matt Ross’ side have picked up three wins and a draw, scoring 17 and conceding just five in the process.
MSV Duisburg, meanwhile, have lost all four of their away matches, having scored one solitary goal in reply to 16 conceded. On that basis, there is little doubt who will be cast in the role of favourites when the teams meet in Frankfurt on Saturday, kicking off at 14:00 CET.
But Duisburg coach Inka Grings is not prepared to give up that easily. “We will do all we can to get our first points away from home,” said the 96-time Germany international in an interview with DFB.de. After her side defeated Hoffenheim 1-0 last week, she added, they can now approach the game with more confidence.
DFB.de: After your team’s victory over Hoffenheim last week, how high are your hopes now of staying in the Allianz Frauen-Bundesliga?
Inka Grings: Whatever way you look at it, that was a really important win, especially when you look at the table - we’ve now caught up ground on the teams above us. But it was also big for our character, as we had to play for almost an hour with only ten players, and the team showed a fantastic response to the early red card. Obviously there was a bit of luck involved too, but we earned that. Everyone could see that we’re still alive and kicking.
DFB.de: What was different to, for example, the 6-0 defeat to Sand the week before?
Grings: It’s hard to say. It became plainly obvious against Hoffenheim that everyone had to pull together, and of course we changed our system a little bit. But the main reason was that we faced up to the situation and fought hard right to the end. In our position, we can only get results if we show application and passion. If we do that, we can give any opponent a tough game.
DFB.de: Including FFC Frankfurt?
Grings: Of course. If I weren’t absolutely convinced of that, then we wouldn’t even bother going to play the game. We want to take something from the Frankfurt match as well. We’ve got nothing to lose there but our pride, which we will absolutely defend, I can promise you that. We’ll just have to wait and see if we can get some points as well.
DFB.de: Are Frankfurt still as strong as they have been in previous years?
Grings: There was certainly a big change there over the summer and of course they lost some quality. That is not difficult to see. However they still have a squad that can play at the highest level. For us, fixtures against Wolfsburg, München, Potsdam or Frankfurt are a bonus. We want to take every point we can. That would be the icing on the cake.
DFB.de: It’s the international break after the Frankfurt game and then there is the home match against your fellow promoted side from Monchengladbach. Could this match be one of the decisive ones of the season?
Grings: It’s an important game, but not a decisive one. Who gets relegated and who stays up will not be determined before Christmas. But there is one thing that is clear: These are games where we have to pick up points. There are no two ways about it and no excuses. However we still have some time before then. Now it’s only the Frankfurt game that matters and we have a chance there. Everything else can wait.
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At first glance, two worlds are colliding. 1. FFC Frankfurt have been dominant at home so far in this Allianz Frauen-Bundesliga campaign. From four games in their own stadium, Matt Ross’ side have picked up three wins and a draw, scoring 17 and conceding just five in the process.
MSV Duisburg, meanwhile, have lost all four of their away matches, having scored one solitary goal in reply to 16 conceded. On that basis, there is little doubt who will be cast in the role of favourites when the teams meet in Frankfurt on Saturday, kicking off at 14:00 CET.
But Duisburg coach Inka Grings is not prepared to give up that easily. “We will do all we can to get our first points away from home,” said the 96-time Germany international in an interview with DFB.de. After her side defeated Hoffenheim 1-0 last week, she added, they can now approach the game with more confidence.
DFB.de: After your team’s victory over Hoffenheim last week, how high are your hopes now of staying in the Allianz Frauen-Bundesliga?
Inka Grings: Whatever way you look at it, that was a really important win, especially when you look at the table - we’ve now caught up ground on the teams above us. But it was also big for our character, as we had to play for almost an hour with only ten players, and the team showed a fantastic response to the early red card. Obviously there was a bit of luck involved too, but we earned that. Everyone could see that we’re still alive and kicking.
DFB.de: What was different to, for example, the 6-0 defeat to Sand the week before?
Grings: It’s hard to say. It became plainly obvious against Hoffenheim that everyone had to pull together, and of course we changed our system a little bit. But the main reason was that we faced up to the situation and fought hard right to the end. In our position, we can only get results if we show application and passion. If we do that, we can give any opponent a tough game.
DFB.de: Including FFC Frankfurt?
Grings: Of course. If I weren’t absolutely convinced of that, then we wouldn’t even bother going to play the game. We want to take something from the Frankfurt match as well. We’ve got nothing to lose there but our pride, which we will absolutely defend, I can promise you that. We’ll just have to wait and see if we can get some points as well.
DFB.de: Are Frankfurt still as strong as they have been in previous years?
Grings: There was certainly a big change there over the summer and of course they lost some quality. That is not difficult to see. However they still have a squad that can play at the highest level. For us, fixtures against Wolfsburg, München, Potsdam or Frankfurt are a bonus. We want to take every point we can. That would be the icing on the cake.
DFB.de: It’s the international break after the Frankfurt game and then there is the home match against your fellow promoted side from Monchengladbach. Could this match be one of the decisive ones of the season?
Grings: It’s an important game, but not a decisive one. Who gets relegated and who stays up will not be determined before Christmas. But there is one thing that is clear: These are games where we have to pick up points. There are no two ways about it and no excuses. However we still have some time before then. Now it’s only the Frankfurt game that matters and we have a chance there. Everything else can wait.
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