Potsdam on the ropes

They may have reached the UEFA Women's Cup final for the last two seasons but 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam do not go into their last-eight encounter with Brøndby IF on a high - with just games of the Bundesliga played coach Bernd Schröder announced that their Bundesliga defence is over.

Nightmare start
The German champions have made a nightmare start to their domestic campaign with defeats against SG Essen-Schönbeck and promoted VfL Wolfsburg, meaning they have already lost more league fixtures than in the whole of 2005/06. Potsdam were far from convincing in the UEFA Women's Cup second qualifying round too, scraping a 1-0 win against Belgium's KFC Rapide Wezemaal and being held 2-2 by Dutch hosts Saestum before finally clinching first place in Group 3 with a 4-0 defeat of AC Sparta Praha.

Wimbersky departure
But this was not unexpected. The departure of striker Petra Wimbersky to arch-rivals 1. FFC Frankfurt, who took the European title off Potsdam in May, has left a big hole, and Schröder predicted: "This year is going to be a very hard one for us." Although midfielder Britta Carlson is now back after a knee injury, Potsdam go into their match with Brøndby over the next two Wednesdays without forward Anja Mittag who is not only under contract at Swedish side QBIK Karlstad until the end of October but out with a ruptured knee ligament too.

League defeats
In the league opener at Essen-Schönbeck, Isabel Kerschowski and Conny Pohlers were both on target as Potsdam went 2-1 up with 31 minutes left, but Inken Becher put through her own goal and Charline Hartmann won the game for the home team. After a break for European and international fixtures, Potsdam welcomed Wolfsburg on Tuesday and lost to a last-gasp Jennifer Horwege goal.

Coach's frustration
Schröder, whose team face TSV Crailsheim on Sunday, said: "The new team cannot deal with defeats - this is a mental thing. First there was the 3-2 in Essen and with this more pessimism. Afterwards we wanted to regain confidence in the UEFA Cup in the Netherlands but despite progressing we didn't really get into gear. And then we lost 1-0 against possibly the weakest team in the league. During the match our team was dead, no one said anything, not even any shouting. We are lacking a player who can change the rhythm of a game. Last season we also played badly, but at the end of each game we used to improve."

'Championship is gone'
He added: "It looks as though as the championship is gone. But I said right from the start that we should use this season to get used to each other. What are important are the UEFA Cup and the German Cup. We will have a good second half of the season, the new team will then know each other. If we are still in those cup competitions we will be capable of anything, although it could be all over as well."