Following the international break, the men's team of 1. FC Union Berlin will be back in Bundesliga action on Sunday, when they travel to play SC Freiburg. Kick-off at the Europa-Park Stadium is at 15:30.

The lie of the land

In their last league match, SC Freiburg fought hard to get a 2-2 draw at third-placed 1. FSV Mainz 05. In an intense game, Julian Schuster's team twice came from behind – helped by a red card for Dominik Kohr just before the half-time whistle.

Union also went into the break with a certain sense of success after Steffen Baumgart's team secured a 1-1 draw against FC Bayern München. Leroy Sané put the visitors in front in the 75th minute, but nine minutes later, substitute Benedict Hollerbach equalised to earn a deserved point against the record champions.

The Opponents

After Christian Streich's departure last summer, former Freiburg professional Schuster took over, leading the team to sixth place with 26 games played. Last season, SC Freiburg finished in tenth, just missing out on a place in European competition, but this year they are in with a chance of reaching the big stage again. With twelve wins, six draws and eight defeats, they have 42 points – currently enough for a place in the play-offs for the UEFA Conference League. However, Borussia Mönchengladbach (on 40 points) are breathing down their necks.

Freiburg used the international break to play a friendly against Karlsruher SC but were beaten 2-1 by the second division team. However, top scorer Vincenzo Grifo (15 league goals so far only played for 25 minutes, while Ritsu Doan was away with the Japanese national team. Sunday’s hosts are seven Bundesliga games unbeaten, however. They last lost coming at home to to Bayern at the end of January.

The personnel

Union head coach Steffen Baumgart will be without Robert Skov and Aljoscha Kemlein on Sunday afternoon.

The reunions

Several Union professionals have a Freiburg past: Janik Haberer played a total of 171 games for SC between 2016 and 2022, Alexander Schwolow was between the posts in 166 competitive games between 2012 and 2020, while Wooyeong Jeong made 100 appearances for the Breisgauer.

There will also be a reunion off the pitch. SC’s athletic trainer Daniel Wolf worked as a rehab and athletic trainer in Köpenick from 2012 to 2016. Assistant coach Florian Bruns played 45 games for Union between January 2003 and summer 2004.

The coaches’ views ahead of the game

“There are still 24 points to play for and we will give our all in every game to keep collecting them,” said Union’s head coach, Steffen Baumgart during his press conference on Friday afternoon. “We face a tough task in Freiburg. Julian Schuster's team is solid in defence, have a wealth of experience and are clinical in front of goal. To get something out of the game, we'll need to build on our performances in the last two matches and once again give it our all.”

His opposite number, Juian Schuster, meanwhile had this to say: “They have put in stable performances in the last two games. They can defend passionately, have a lot of guys on the pitch who put a lot of effort into it. They are compact, so it's difficult to find spaces. And they are dangerous in transition.”

Service information

A good 2,000 Union fans will travel to the south of Germany for the away game in Breisgau. The mobile Zeughaus will also be there. Information on visiting the stadium can be found here (German).

The game will be broadcast live by DAZN. In addition, there is an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and on rbb24. As usual, Union will also provide information on the game via the club's own live ticker, as well as giving live updates in English and Spanish on Twitter.