100th Time at Home:
A Bundesliga Anniversary Against an old Adversary
On Saturday, 19 April 2025, the Stadion An der Alten Försterei will host a special occasion as 1. FC Union Berlin host VfB Stuttgart under the floodlights. Union’s 100th Bundesliga fixture at home is also their 200th altogether in the league. Kick off is at 18:30.
The lie of the land
VfB Stuttgart have been sailing through some choppy waters of late. The Swabians have only managed two wins in their last ten Bundesliga games – away at Borussia Dortmund (2-1) and at VfL Bochum (4-0). Aside from two draws, this includes six defeats – most recently the 2-1 home reverse against SV Werder Bremen, in which Oliver Burke scored twice to turn around Stuttgart's early lead.
Union, on the other hand, are coming off the back of an impressive run, capped by the recent goalless draw at the home of the reigning German champions. Against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, their compact and superbly organised defence against Alonso’s men particularly impressed, while Andrej Ilic’s first half goal was disallowed for offside.
VfB Stuttgart's season has been far from easy. After finishing runners-up last year and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, the hoped-for breakthrough on the European stage failed to materialise as the team were eliminated in the group stage. Their form in the league has also been inconsistent, and Sebastian Hoeneß's side currently lie in 11th place, two places and only six points ahead of Union.
What is striking is that while the team have performed well away from home recently (four unbeaten games in the last five), Stuttgart been most disappointing in front of their home crowd, losing five Bundesliga home games in a row. The picture is similar for the season as a whole. After a strong first half of the season (they were in 5th place at Christmas), they have fallen to 14th in the second half of the season so far.
Nevertheless, there is reason for optimism in Swabia. VfB are in the DFB Pokal final where they will face third-division side Arminia Bielefeld at Berlin's Olympic. The dream of a fourth cup win is still alive.
Union and VfB have met 14 times so far. The record is fairly evenly balanced, if Saturday’s guests have their noses just in front. It reads, three wins for Union, five for Stuttgart and six draws.
The 2019 relegation play-off remains unforgettable, however, when Union prevailed and ere promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time. Now, 200 games later, the stars have aligned for them to meet again.
For some players and officials, the game will also mean a reunion with their own past. Rani Khedira and Benedict Hollerbach started their careers in Stuttgart, while Hollerbach also played for FC Bayern's U19 team under Sebastian Hoeneß.
VfB loanee Wooyeong Jeong also has a past in Stuttgart, of course – he played 29 competitive games for the Swabians but will miss Saturday evening's game through injury.
On the other side, Jamie Leweling, currently injured, is set for a reunion with the Berliners. The winger played 25 games for Union in the 2022/23 season before being loaned to Stuttgart and then moving permanently to Swabia last summer.
There will also be a reunion off the pitch: VfB sporting director Christian Gentner wore the Union jersey from 2019 to 2021 and made 53 of his 430 Bundesliga appearances for the Köpenick club.
Head coach Steffen Baumgart and his coaching team unfortunately cannot rely on the services of Robert Skov, Wooyeong Jeong, Aljoscha Kemlein, and Jerome Roussillon.
“We're going into the game with the same attitude as we do every other one,” said Union’s head coach, Steffen Baumgart, during his press conference on Thursday afternoon. “Of course, it's a special occasion – we're really looking forward to it. Nevertheless, we're sticking to our approach of taking each game as it comes. We are aware of Stuttgart's qualities, they are a strong team, even if their results so far have not always reflected that. It will be even more important to go into the challenges with a lot of aggression – in the hope that we can celebrate a successful anniversary at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei together with our fans.”
His opposite number, Sebastian Hoeneß, is expecting a tough evening at the Alte Försterei. “Union have stabilised completely; they are one of the teams in top form at the moment. They play directly with the ball – they break, hit lots of balls behind the lines and win second balls that need to be defended. That's difficult to play against.”
As usual, the Stadion An der Alten Försterei will open two hours before kick-off. The match is sold out in both the home and away sections.
There are still extensive traffic disruptions on public transport, and travel via the ‘Altstadt Köpenick’ tram lines is only possible with rail replacement services. All visitors are therefore advised to arrive early.
The match will be broadcast live by Sky. Additionally, there is an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and on rbb24, and as usual, Union will also provide updates in English on Twitter and Bluesky
