Bochum Struggle for Survival:
Union’s Men Look to Continue Their Run
Knowing that they will remain in Germany's top flight next season, the men's team of 1. FC Union Berlin will now play their remaining Bundesliga matches of the 2024/25 season in safety. They will travel on Sunday, 27 April 2025, to face to VfL Bochum 1848. Kick off against the league’s 17th-placed team is at 15:30.
The lie of the land
VfL Bochum have just 360 minutes (plus stoppage time) left to secure their place in the Bundesliga for next season. They are ten points off 16th place and safety. 1. FC Heidenheim, currently occupying the relegation play-off spot, however, are only two points away, and Bochum face them in a decisive match on the next but one matchday.
Bochum have lost their last five games, failing to pick up any points since the surprise 3-2 win in Munich on matchday 25.
Union, on the other hand, are now unbeaten in six games and have collected twelve out of a possible 18 points during this period. The point gained in the historic 4-4 draw against VfB Stuttgart will be remembered outside of the half-time scoreline, as it secured their place in the league with a month to go.
Apart from after the first matchday, back in August 2024, which found them in 15th place, the team led by captain Anthony Losilla – the oldest outfield player in the league – haven’t left the bottom three. In the hope that this would change in the second half of the season, the team was strengthened in the winter with the signings of Tom Krauß and Georgios Masouras. Both came to Bochum on loan and, without much time to settle in, immediately became important parts of head coach Dieter Hecking's team, but apart from respectable results against Borussia Dortmund (2-0) and FC Bayern, they were unable to pick up many more points.
For Hecking, who took over from interim coach Markus Feldhoff during the first half of the season, Sunday's match will be his seventh against Union, though he will face Union coach Steffen Baumgart for the first time.
1. FC Union Berlin have met VfL Bochum 28 times in competitive matches so far. Union have won 13 of those games, while Bochum have emerged victorious on 11 occasions. The points were shared in the other four matches.
Union players Janik Haberer and Kevin Vogt can look forward to meeting their former club. Midfielder Haberer played for VfL in the second division in 2015/16, while defensive specialist Vogt even came through the Bochum youth academy and made his Bundesliga debut for VfL in 2009.
Union's coaching team will have to do without Aljoscha Kemlein, Robert Skov, Jerome Roussillon, Josip Juranovic and Wooyeong Jeong for the match.
"It's about continuing our excellent run on Sunday. We can expect a heated atmosphere and an opponent who is fighting for their very existence. We have to stick to our game and simply give everything," said head coach Steffen Baumgart ahead of the match.
"I don't give a damn how we win the game. But we want to win it. We have to give it everything we've got. We have to show our opponents that we are the only ones who can win this game. If we don't understand that, then we'll be relegated," explained his opposite number, Dieter Hecking, before the clash.
The team can count on the support of 2,700 Union fans at Castroper Straße. Information about visiting the stadium can be found here (German).
The match will be broadcast live on DAZN. There will also be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and rbb24, and as usual, Union will also provide information about the match on its own live ticker, as well as providing cursory updates in English and Spanish on Twitter and Bluesky.
