Hosting the Champions
Bayer 04 Leverkusen Come to the Alte Försterei
In the penultimate home game of the 2024 calendar year, 1. FC Union Berlin’s men will host the reigning Bundesliga champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 12th matchday on Saturday, 30 November 2024. Kick off at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei is at 15:30 pm.
The lie of the land
Even though Bayer have yet to match the impressive dominance of their last, title-winning season, they are still doing well in 2024-25. Head coach Xabi Alonso's team are currently fourth in the Bundesliga having only suffered one loss, the 3-2 in Leipzig on matchday two. Last weekend Florian Wirtz and co. roundly beat 1. FC Heidenheim 5-2 away having been two goals down, while Salzburg were also summarily despatched 5-0 in midweek in the UEFA Champions League.
In the new format of Europe’s premier competition, the team are in a strong sixth place after five games, with three wins, one draw and one defeat.
Union, for their part, are currently experiencing a minor scoring drought and have not taken all three points in five competitive matches. However, head coach Bo Svensson's team are still unbeaten at home and have won three of their previous five matches at the Stadion An der Försterei.
The opponents
Long decried as ‘Vizekusen’, the Werkself had a 2023/24 season that many football clubs can only dream of. They were the first team to win the Bundesliga unbeaten, were also victorious in the DFB Pokal and only had to give up the dream of a perfect season in the final of the UEFA Europa League. Atalanta Bergamo, courtesy of three-time goal scorer Ademola Lookman, were too strong in their 3-0 win in the final, thus preventing a season for the history books.
In order to keep up with these highest of standards, Leverkusen’s management decided in the summer to further strengthen the squad. With Martin Terrier and Aleix García, two players were signed who played key roles at Stade Rennes and FC Girona respectively and have so far been able to seamlessly integrate into the German champions' team.
The head to head
Leverkusen have won eight of the 13 competitive meetings between the sides. Union recorded their only (home) success against B04 in the 2021/22 season, but have also managed to share the points four other times.
The reunion
Two of Saturday’s protagonists have worn the opposition’s jersey at some point in their careers. Kevin Volland played 148 games for Leverkusen between 2016 and 2020 while Robert Andrich, who moved from Berlin to the Rhine in the summer of 2021, represented 1. FC Union Berlin 66 times.
The personnel
Union's coaching team will have to do without Yannic Stein, Oluwaseun Ogbemudia and Andrej Ilic for the game.
The coaches’ views ahead of the game
“It will be a big task, the German champions are coming to us,” said Union head coach, Bo Svensson, during his regular press conference on Thursday afternoon. “Of course we know that we need a top performance against a team of such quality to even be able to keep up. But these are exactly the tasks you look forward to when you are allowed to play in the Bundesliga.”
Service information
As usual, the stadium An der Alten Försterei opens two hours before kick-off. The game is sold out in the home and away areas. All visitors are advised to arrive early due to significant restrictions on public transport and on the roads around the stadium.
The game will be broadcast live on SKY. In addition, there will be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and on rbb24, and, as usual, Union will also provide information on the game via the club's own live ticker, as well as in English and Spanish on twitter.
