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4w ago

Leipzig Beats Union 3-1 as Sexism Backlash Trails Eta’s Breakthrough

The win cements third place for Leipzig in the race to return to the Champions League.

Eta walks onto the pitch after the match against Wolfsburg in Berlin on April 18.
A Union Berlin fan holds up a sign that calls Eta a “Fußballgöttin!” (“football goddess”).
Image
Eta talking to Rani Khedira during the Bundesliga match against Wolfsburg.

Overview

  • Leipzig beat Union Berlin 3-1 on Friday, handing interim coach Marie-Louise Eta a second straight defeat and extending Leipzig’s winning run to five league games.
  • The game came a day after RB Leipzig faced criticism for a social post that used old photos of Eta with former and current club figures; the club said there is no place for sexism and said it was referencing her 2022 internship.
  • Eta, 34, is the first woman to coach a men’s team in Europe’s top five leagues and is guiding Union through the season’s final matches before taking charge of the club’s women’s side.
  • RB Leipzig is led by CEO Tatjana Haenni, the Bundesliga’s first female club chief, who has said these hires show a shift toward picking leaders for quality rather than gender.
  • Union sits six points above the drop zone before the rest of the round and still must play Cologne, Mainz and Augsburg, putting Eta’s short rescue mission and the club’s top-flight status under fresh pressure.