On Saturday, 06.04.2024, 1. FC Union Berlin will face Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. Kick off at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei is at 15:30

The lie of the land

League leaders Leverkusen are coming off the back of last weekend’s spectacular 2-1 home win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. TSG were 1-0 up until the 88th minute, before Robert Andrich and Patrick Schick turned the game in the Werkself's favour in the dying minutes. Under the leadership of head coach Xabi Alonso, Leverkusen are currently top of the Bundesliga with 73 points - 13 ahead of their closest rivals, FC Bayern – where they have been for 23 of the 27 matchdays so far played this season.

More recently, Alonso's team played in the DFB Pokal semi-final with a 4-0 derby win against Fortuna Düsseldorf on Wednesday evening. They will face Kaiserslautern in the final.

The opponents

Leverkusen have been this season’s standout side, with strength in depth, particularly so up front where Alejandro Grimaldo, Victor Boniface, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong are all dangerous, with fullbacks Grimaldo and Frimpong already having contributed 17 goals so far this season. They are far from the only ones to shine, however, joining a defence that have only conceded 19 times, and whose passing statistics are all excellent. Leverkusen are unbeaten so far this season in 40 competitive matches.

The reunion

Saturday sees Robert Andrich returning to his old stomping ground, having been under contract at Union from 2019 to 2021, where the German international played 66 games, scoring nine goals. There will also be a reunion for Kevin Volland. The striker scored 50 times in 148 games for the Werkself.

The head to head

There have been twelve meetings between the two teams so far, nine in the Bundesliga and three in the Cup. Leverkusen have won seven, there have been four draws, while Union’s only win came in 2021 when Cedric Teuchert scored the only goal of the day at the Alte Försterei. Leverkusen won the last game 4-0.

The personnel

Head coach Nenad Bjelica will be without Janik Haberer, Jérôme Roussillon and Jakob Busk through injury.

The coaches’ views ahead of the game:

"Leverkusen are having a very successful season and are deservedly at the top,” was Nenad Bjelica’s estimation of Saturday’s guests during his weekly press conference. “They play attractive football and are strong up front. But we're playing at home in front of our fans and we want to give our all to make it as difficult as possible for Leverkusen to play to their strengths. At the end of the day, we want to win every game and that's how we'll approach Saturday's encounter."

Service information

As usual, the Stadion An der Alten Försterei will open two hours before kick-off. The home section is sold out. 

The match will be broadcast live on Sky and there will also be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and rbb24. As usual, Union will also provide information about the match in the club's own live ticker, as well as giving updates in English and Spanish on Twitter.