1. FC Union Berlin will play against Eintracht Frankfurt at home on Sunday, 19.03.2023, in the 25th game of the season. Kick off at the Alte Försterei is at 15:30.

The lie of the land

Sunday's match will be the first game for both teams following their joint eliminations from European competition. While Union lost their Europa League last 16 second leg against Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in Anderlecht, Belgium, 3-0 on Thursday, the Frankfurt side also lost 3-0, at SSC Napoli on Wednesday. This is a match for both sides to re-train their focus.

The opponents

As of saturday afternoon Eintracht were in sixth place in the Bundesliga table with 40 points, a position that would allow them to re-join European competition next season. Regardless of the outcome of Sunday's match, Frankfurt will remain there, with a five-point gap to the top and a four-point advantage over seventh.

The club from the country's financial centre is currently have found themselves in a bit of a results crisis recently. Head coach Oliver Glasner's team are now five games without a win. There were the two defeats against Napoli, as well as a 2-1 reverse in Leipzig, and draws against Wolfsburg and VfB Stuttgart.

They are two of the three sides in the Bundesliga with the most miles in their legs, but despite this being their second meeting this season, it won't be the last; Union must travel to Frankfurt again in the quarter-finals of the DFB Pokal at the beginning of April, following the international break. Eintracht have happy memories of the last encounter at their home, which they won 2-0 in October, Union's first loss of the season.

The Reunion

1. FC Union Berlin will welcome the visit of a former player to the Alte Försterei in the shape of left-back, Christoph Lenz. The Berlin born player played 72 games for Union, scoring one goal (in the cup win over Germania Halberstadt), and providing eight assists between 2016 and 2021. On the other side, Union's number one, Frederik Rönnow, is returning to his old haunts. The Danish international played a total of 21 games for Eintracht.

The personnel

András Schäfer is still absent, and Christopher Trimmel is also unavailable due to illness. But apart from the whole squad is fit. 

The coaches' views ahead of the game

"We want to show a reaction to the game on Thursday" said Union head coach, Urs Fischer, ahead of the crucial match. "It's about the way we performed. We still have ten match days. At some point we should start winning again."

Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner, meanwhile was cautious about the task his side have to face. "Like us, Union performed excellently in Europe, if their machinery got a bit clogged up over the last few weeks. It will be important to invest everything and get three points before the international break, even though we know that Union are very strong at home. We showed in the last game that we have skills in our team that Union have problems with, we want to show them off in Köpenick as well."

Service info: Rail replacement service between Karlshorst and Friedrichshagen

The stadion An der Alten Försterei is sold out and will open its gates as usual two hours before kick-off. Due to the cancellation of the S3 train and the construction sites around the stadium, all visitors are advised to allow extra time for their journey. More information can be found here.

The match can be seen live on DAZN and heard on rbb24 Inforadio and rbb24.de. As usual, Union will also report on the match in the club's own live ticker, as well as in English on twitter.