Less than 24 hours after the Bundesliga match in Leipzig, 1. FC Union Berlin will play FC St. Gallen in a friendly at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei on Sunday January 19 at 14:00.

It’s a final opportunity for head coach Urs Fischer to give players the chance to build up match sharpness with Bundesliga and German Cup games coming thick-and-fast in the next few weeks.

Review: Unbeaten in Spain, St. Gallen off the back of strong Hinrunde

With 20 points from Union’s first 17 Bundesliga games, Urs Fischer could have not asked for much more. His team spent just over a week at the Training Camp Campoamor near Murcia and underwent a period of warm weather preparation for the Rückrunde start at RB Leipzig on Saturday evening. Union faced three different opponents in Spain, looking to get back to match sharpness. Goals from Robert Andrich and Sebastian Polter saw off the Belgians OH Leuven, while in the afternoon, Union drew 2-2 with Royal Union Saint-Gillose. Sheraldo Becker netted the opener on 14 minutes, followed shortly by Anthony Ujah’s strike, but the Belgian second-tier side fought back in the second half. Ujah scored again in the final encounter as Union edged out Hungarian champions Ferencvaros — Neven Subotic and Sebastian Andersson scoring the other two last Saturday.

Peter Zeidler’s team will return to league action at home to Lugano the following Sunday. St. Gallen have made a strong start to the Swiss Super League, collecting 35 points from 18 matches and are the league’s top scorers. The Hinrunde ended with a 1-3 defeat to FC Zürich, but St. Gallen are one behind FC Basel and three off Young Boys Bern. The one-time Swiss champions also spent the winter break in Spain to regroup ahead of the league restart next week. German third-tier side Ingolstadt won 6-3 in the first bounce game before a more competitive 2-3 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. Zeidler’s men wrapped up their training near Marbella with a 3-2 win over Belgian side Oostende.

Record: Recent results against Swiss opposition

The Köpenick club have faced a handful of Swiss clubs in recent years — a year ago, Urs Fischer’s team drew 2-2 at home to FC Basel before the Rückrunde. Carlos Mane made his debut following his loan move from Sporting Lisbon and Union’s goals came from Grischa Prömel and Sebastian Polter. A few weeks earlier in Jerez, Union were held 0-0 by Lausanne Sport. In September 2018, Union drew 3-3 at home to Grasshopper from Zürich after going into a two-goal lead inside 20 minutes. Kenny Prince Redondo found the net, while Union academy graduate Berkan Taz netted a double at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.

Service: Tickets on sale, two stands to be opened

Tickets are available online for Sunday’s match, as well as, in all club stores. The main stand (section 1) and the Waldseite (section 2) will be open for home fans, while the away section will be available for supporters who travel from Switzerland.

Prices: Standing ticket prices are 5 Euro*, while standing tickets are 10 Euro*.

Children up to 12 years are entitled to free admission. However, should kids wish to sit in the main stand, a free ticket needs to be obtained.

*All prices include VAT, online and handling fees.