The women of VfL Bochum are spending the winter break in the middle of the 2. Bundesliga table. A losing streak and a string of injuries took the momentum out of their strong start.

The 2025 soccer season ended a bit earlier than expected for the women of VfL Bochum. The last game of the year against VfR SW Warbeyen was canceled.

As a result, coach Kyra Malinowski’s team had no further opportunity to add to their current tally of 17 points and remain in the middle of the 2. Bundesliga table.

In particular, a four-game losing streak spanning October and November had somewhat overshadowed the VfL women’s strong start.

Kyra Malinowski, how would you assess VfL Bochum’s first half of the season?

Mixed overall. I think we all went into the season with different expectations. We’ve also had some games where things didn’t quite go our way at times. We definitely want to collect more points in the second half of the season than we did in the first.

What has been the highlight for you so far?

That was definitely the match against SC Sand, which we won 5-1 at home. The game at Turbine Potsdam was just very emotional because we had a lot of injured players at the time, and many others who were out sick. We went there with such a small squad and played a good game—and took home the three points.

And what was the biggest low point?

The low point was the match against VfB Stuttgart, which we lost 0–6. But generally speaking, you could just list the four games in a row that we lost.

Will there be changes to the squad during the winter break?

We have a good squad together. Now some players are also returning from injuries, like Nina Lange, who is set to be gradually reintegrated at the start of the year. Or Leana Zaugg, who was injured and still is, but hopefully will be able to gradually rejoin the team at the start of the year. That’s why I can’t say anything more concrete about that at the moment.

What is your goal for the rest of the season?

Our basic approach is not to look too far into the future, but to take it step by step. It’s easy to forget the small steps and focus only on the big picture. In our current situation, it’s all about bringing consistency and giving 100 percent week after week.