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1. FC Union Berlin vs RC Celta de Vigo
Friendly, 7. Matchday
1. FC Union vs Celta de Vigo
Friendly, 7. Matchday
Sat., 03. August 2019, 16:00 Uhr
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Union Berlin defeated by Celta Vigo in final friendly
Match report
1. FC Union Berlin went down 3-0 to strong La Liga outfit Celta Vigo in the final pre-season friendly at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
Spanish international Brais Mendez scored in the first half, while Santi Mina and Jorge Saenz sealed the win for Celta Vigo with two goals after the interval. Nevertheless, Urs Fischer's side will take the positives from their good periods in the match ahead of next weekend's DFB Pokal tie, which kicks off the competitive season in Germany.
1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Reichel (Lenz 67), Rapp, Schlotterbeck (Parensen 86), Trimmel; Prömel (Kade 86), Gentner (Schmiedebach 86); Becker (Gogia 61), Bülter (Flecker 61), Ingvartsen (Polter 67), Andersson (Ujah 67)
Celta Vigo: Blanco (Villar 61); Costas (Beltran 61), Suarez (Molina 84), Aspas (Losada 20), Lobotka (Junca 84), Olaza (Sisto 84), Saenz (Bermejo 86), Aidoo (Araujo 61), Vasquez (Carreira 88), Mendez (Fontan 88), Mina (Lauti 84)
The visitors, who will open their season against Real Madrid in a fortnight, moved the ball around comfortably in the opening exchanges, but struggled to break through a well-organised setup from Union. Celta’s captain Iago Aspas was substituted after 20 minutes following a collision with Nicolai Rapp. Shortly after the restart of play, Fran Escriba’s team broke the deadlock, Denis Suarez’s pass carving open the Union defence and the ball slotted past Rafal Gikiewicz by Mendez. The hosts tried to clear their arrears soon after with Grischa Prömel driving through the Celta Vigo midfield and striking the outside of the post from 25 yards out. Union grew into the half and looked the most dangerous in the final 10 minutes before the break. Blanco kept out efforts from Ingvartsen and Andersson at point-blank range. On 37 minutes, Keven Schlotterbeck attacked a corner kick from Christopher Trimmel and watched his header cannon against the crossbar.
The domination from the end of the first half continued into the second as Union tested the Celta Vigo goalkeeper Ruben Blanco. Gentner’s first-time finish on 48 minutes from the edge of the box was tipped over the bar by the Spanish goalie. Ingvartsen and Marius Bülter stung the gloves of Blanco soon after from long-range as the home side enjoyed a strong period in the match. But a mistake in the defensive build-up handed a simple chance to Santi Mina and the striker finished off. Substitute Akaki Gogia collected a neat pass inside from Christopher Lenz, but his shot was excellently saved by Ivan Villar. Jorge Saenz’s headed in a third for Celta Vigo with nine minutes left to round off the afternoon.
With pre-season coming to a close, 1. FC Union Berlin can turn their attention to competitive football. The Bundesliga side will head to VfB Germania Halberstadt on Sunday August 11 for the first round of the DFB Pokal.
Union's final friendly at home to Celta Vigo
Match preview
1. FC Union Berlin’s final pre-season friendly of the summer takes place on Saturday at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei against Spanish side Celta Vigo.
With the Bundesliga start three weeks away, Urs Fischer’s side are almost set to go ahead of a new adventure for the Köpenick club.
First, Union will play Germania Halberstadt in the DFB Pokal before the opening Bundesliga clash against RB Leipzig on August 18.
Review: Bundesliga club held, Celta Vigo in good form
Fischer strived to create the right conditions to test his players in an away setting last week. Union drew 1-1 with Wolfsburg over 120 minutes with a goal in the second minute from Sebastian Andersson. The fixture had an unusual format with four x 30 minute periods in order to give two groups of the squad almost an hour's game time. Joao Victor hit a late equaliser for Oliver Glasner's side as the Wolves were kept all square against one of the newly-promoted club. After a draw in Aue and a rewarding training camp in Windischgarsten, this was the much-needed examination of Union’s Bundesliga credentials before RB Leipzig come to Köpenick on August 18.
Fran Escriba’s Celta Vigo finished 17th in the Spanish top division last term and will be expecting to bounce back with a solid showing this time around. Wins over Lugo (3-0) and Lille (1-0) have given Celta good grounding in their pre-season preparations. The 54-year-old’s team have been in active in the transfer window with Denis Suarez signing from Barcelona, Joseph Aidoo joining from Genk and Santi Mina making the move from Valencia. Celta open their own league campaign on August 17 at home to Real Madrid.
Service: Day box offices available
Tickets are available from the Union-Zeughaus and online. There will be day box offices for supporters who wish to purchase a ticket on matchday.
A live stream will also be available on AFTV, our official club channel.
