Away in the Messestadt
Union's Men Travel to Leipzig
On Saturday, 14 September, 1. FC Union Berlin's men's team will travel to face RasenBallsport Leipzig. Kick off at the former Zentralstadion in the third game of the Bundesliga season is at 15:30.
The starting position
Leipzig have started the new season with two wins. After their 1-0 home win against VfL Bochum, coach Marco Rose's team ended the impressive unbeaten streak of reigning champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Despite trailing 2-0, the Saxons fought back and won 3-2 thanks to a brace from striker Lois Openda, inflicting Leverkusen's first Bundesliga defeat since May 2023.
Union also remain unbeaten in the still young season. A 1-1 draw in Mainz was followed by the 1-0 home win against Bundesliga newcomers FC St. Pauli, in which Benedict Hollerbach scored the decisive goal.
The opponent check
The home side finished fourth in the Bundesliga 2023/24, securing their seventh consecutive UEFA Champions League appearance - and eighth in the club's history.
In this year's reformed Champions League, they will face top-class opponents such as Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Liverpool FC and Italian champions Internazionale.
Leipzig signed five new players in the summer to maximise their chances in all competitions. Among others, the exceptional talent Assan Ouédraogo from FC Schalke 04 and the nippy winger Antonio Nusa from FC Brugge came for around 70 million euros. However, coach Marco Rose also had to cope with the departure of the newly crowned European champion Dani Olmo to FC Barcelona. Instead, he can continue to count on midfield star Xavi Simons, who has been loaned from Paris Saint-Germain for another year.
The reunion
Union vice-captain Rani Khedira will meet up with old acquaintances on Saturday, having played for RasenBallsport from 2014 to 2017 where he made a total of 54 appearances.
Personnel
Union’s trainer team are without the services of Kevin Volland, Josip Juranović and Yannic Stein for Saturday’s clash.
The coaches’ views ahead of the game
“Leipzig have been unbeaten in the league for thirteen games this season and are therefore brimming with confidence,” said Union’s co-coach, Babak Keyanfahar on Thursday afternoon. “We'll have to bring our full range of skills to counter them. We want to utilise our strengths to try and overcome this challenge against a top team in the best possible way. We're all aware of the size of the task, but we're looking forward to tackling it with everything we've got.’
His opposite number, Marco Rose, meanwhile had this to say of his side’s task. “Union are very well organised. You have to work hard for the spaces and every scoring chance. And you have to be very careful at transitions and set pieces. Union look stable and well-practiced.”
Service information
For the away game in Leipzig, the Union players can count on the vociferous support of a good 4,800 fans travelling with them. The Union-Fahr-Zeughaus will also be there. Information on attending the stadium can be found here (German)
The match will be broadcast live by Sky. There will also be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and rbb24. As usual, Union will also provide information about the match via the club's own live ticker, as well as in English and Spanish on Twitter.
