1. FC Union Berlin took a fine point on Saturday afternoon with their 1-1 draw against FC Bayern München. Having defended bravely for 75 minutes, they went a goal down to Leroy Sane’s shot, but Benedict Hollerbach equalised only six minutes later to send the Alte Försterei into delirium.

1. FC Union Berlin: Rönnow – Trimmel (71. Rothe), Doekhi, Querfeld, Leite, Juranovic – Haberer (61. Hollerbach), Schäfer (81. Benes), Khedira, Jeong (81. Skarke) – Ilic (61. Ljubicic) 

FC Bayern München: Urbig – Stanisic, Upamecano, Dier, Davies – Kimmich, Goretzka – Olise (81. Ito), Musiala, Gnabry (65. Sane) – Kane 

The starting XI

Steffen Baumgart made two changes to the side that won last weekend in Frankfurt, but also allowed himself a slight tactical shift for the visit of FC Bayern. It started, however, with Frederik Rönnow in goal behind Diogo Leite, Leopold Querfeld and Danilho Doekhi at the back, with captain, Christopher Trimmel, and Josip Juranović playing right and left full-back, respectively.

Janik Haberer and Wooyeong Jeong, in for Tim Skarke, were to the right and left of Rani Khedira and the returning Andras Schäfer, replacing Lucas Tousart, in midfield. This allowed Andrej Ilic to strike alone up front.

Attendance: 22.012 

Goals: 0-1 Sane (75.), 1-1 Hollerbach (84.) 

Bayern pack Union’s half, but the hosts hold firm

If few had seen this result coming before kick off, Josip Juranović was quick to point out that it was more than deserved after a superb team performance from Union had held the record champions at bay for 75 minutes, then had them worried after drawing level seven minutes later.

 “I don’t find the point so surprising,” he said after the final whistle had been blown in an uproarious, delirious Alte Försterei. “We played very well and stuck to the coaches' plan. We had also made it clear that we would fight for every point, even against teams from the Champions League.”

He wasn’t alone. But what was to be expected was that they wouldn’t get handed a draw against Bayern on a plate. They had to fight so hard.

Bayern started off on the front foot, moving the ball about, clean as a whistle from kick off; it took an early first touch from Diogo Leite to flick Alphonso Davies’ cross from the left away from the looming Harry Kane and a well-judged interception from Andras Schäfer to snuff out Michael Olise’s pass inside.

They’d do similar all half long.

Indeed, the first five minutes were played almost entirely in the Union half, with their assistant coach, Rene Wagner, standing in for the suspended Steffen Baumgart – he was up in the stands, ploughing a furrow in the concrete with his endless, furious pacing - standing still in his technical area, hands in pockets, folding his arms as Bayern won a free kick on the right, Joshua Kimmich and Olise stood over it.

But Leopold Querfeld, setting the tone, was more than equal to the set-piece, and Union looked to break whenever they could up the right, largely in  those opening passages through a Janik Haberer who had already played in most position on the pitch this season already.

Dayot Upamecano had the first shot, blazed over after eight minutes as Bayern continued to press, and their next corner saw a fine, punched clearance by Rönnow chased suddenly by Juranović into the Bayern half, the wind of 20,000 voices behind him as he tried to beat Upamecano in a foot race towards the Bayern goal.

But, despite the pressure, Union looked calm and composed as the half wore on, with Danilho Doekhi and Christopher Trimmel combining twice to stop Jamal Musiala, and it was Juranović who created Union’s first half-chance, when he crossed into the box for Khedira with fifteen minutes played, but Union’s vice-captain couldn’t steer the ball goalwards.

Doekhi summed up the home side’s fight as he raced 25 yards to try to win a corner in an almost hopeless chase. Leite followed suit on the other side, this time nearer the halfway line to win the ball off Musiala. He stood up and gestured to Juranović to keep the pace up.

They were giving nothing away, and Olise was reduced to trying to bend one in from outside the box after 25 fruitless minutes, his left-footed shot drifting wide of Rönnow’s right hand post. Under pressure from the tireless Wooyeong Jeong, Harry Kane clipped a ball out into touch that was supposed to find Olise.

Andrej Ilic, often the loneliest man in the city up front, looked to get onto the flicks that came his way, often from Khedira in the middle, keeping Eric Dier and Upamecano occupied as best he could, charging into position when Schäfer won the ball superbly with five minutes of the half to play, and sprinting into the Bayern half. He and Upamecano both went down in pain as Leite tried to spring Union’s centre-forward free again having won the ball off Kimmich.

Still Bayern tried to break through as 45 minutes was up, but when they finally did, Rönnow was more than equal to Serge Gnabry’s shot from close range. Baumgart could halt his short-paced march; Union had more than held their own.

Sané scores, but Bayern can’t hold their lead as Hollerbach roars in on goal

Union started the second half unchanged and, with Bayern winning an early corner off Leite, little else running differently on the pitch. The ball worked its way to Josip Stanisic, his volley catching Ilic on the bridge of the nose. He winced once and carried on. Service had been resumed; Musiala tried to trick his way into space but had Doekhi and Querfeld ahead of him, an unimpeachable barrier; Davies’ clipped ball into the box was headed simply clear by Querfeld straight after.

Musiala went down softly under Khedira’s tackle, 30 yards out, dead centre, but Kane could do no more than hit it into the grasp of the diving Rönnow before, at the other end, Jonas Urbig had to make a sharp stop after Kimmich had deflected the ball towards his own goal after Khedira’s dangerous little cross in from the byline.

They had over 85 percent possession in the first half and had nothing to show for it; Bayern were growing frustrated, and Musiala saw yellow early on. He was robbed by Haberer on the left, Gnabry mis-controlled a simple ball on the right.

The sun broke clear, lighting up the Alte Försterei in a glorious golden haze, as Juranović again burst forwards, this time stinging a shot at Urbig’s near post, the Bayern stopper having to punch it away for a corner. Rönnow did just as well with Musiala’s shot soon afterwards.

Then, with an hour up, and Bayern still unable to find a way past Union’s superb defence, Wagner made his first changes, with Haberer and Ilic replaced by Benedict Hollerbach and Marin Ljubicic.

Khedira advanced again up the right, fighting Davies all the way, somehow getting to the ball to hit it on the slide into the box where neither Schäfer nor Hollerbach could quite bring it under control enough to get a shot off, before Trimmel, continuing his excellent form of late, charged back to win a header ahead of Leon Goretzka in the Union box. It was one of a seeming hundred such similar challenges made.

It was his last touch, and he was cheered all the way along the touchline as he walked off, replaced by Tom Rothe, the old hand replaced by the young legs.

Trimmel has seen enough to not get carried away by the result, of course. “We wanted to stop Bayern playing along the wings, and it worked well. Of course you can't defend for the whole game,” he said, “but on the whole it was very good. We wanted to create a few more chances up front, but we didn't manage that and we have to be self-critical about that.”

Unfortunately for Rothe, he was reduced looking on as Bayern finally broke the deadlock with 15 minutes to play.  Olise found a bit of space down the right, from where he cut the ball back to Leroy Sané, given too much time to pick his spot. Rönnow didn’t stand a chance.

Following Juranović’s free kick, headed wide by Rothe, Wagner threw his final cards on the table with ten minutes to play, bringing on Tim Skarke and Laszlo Bénes for Schäfer and Jeong.

It would have been easy for them to lie down and accept their fate, but, instead, it would pay off handsomely as Hollerbach, who had played for Bayern as a youth, ran in to equalise only minutes after his entrance, running onto a ball tipped away by Urbig, directly into his path. He didn’t break stride.

The Alte Försterei erupted with joy. It shook to its very foundations.

Rönnow made two more fine stops as the stadium drew breath, the first from Ito, the second a cross-shot from Kimmich. It was pulsating now as the game entered its final minutes, all hands on deck in the Union box, benes Hoicking one clear, Skarke the next.

Doekhi won a corner off Kimmich as the five minutes added on played out, as the Unioner grew louder than ever. Though it came to nothing, they wouldn’t let up, and as Skarke tackled Musiala a final time, they knew it was all over.

Baumgart’s exile was over, too. He had said during his press conference on Thursday that it would be torturous, being exiled to the stands. “We defended passionately and also had a bit of luck,” he said. “The boys definitely deserved it."

It’s not Union’s first point against the Bavarian giants, of course. But as the Waldseite celebrated their players with the sun starting to set behind the main terrace, it was hard not to think that it may have been the most important.