After Tuesday’s Champions League match against Sporting Braga, there is little time for the 1. FC Union Berlin men’s team to take a deep breath, with their seventh match of the Bundesliga season taking place on Saturday, 07.10.2023, when they travel to play Borussia Dortmund. Kick off at Signal Iduna Park is at 15:30. 

The opponents

After narrowly missing out on the championship last year, BVB struggled slightly at the start of the new season. But they have picked up form recently with three wins on the bounce against Freiburg, Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim. In that run, veteran striker Marco Reus has scored three goals, proving that he is still an important part of the team at the age of 34. 

German international Julian Brandt has also been in excellent form, setting up four goals. In the 2-2 draw at home against 1. FC Heidenheim 1846, the attacking midfielder also scored for Edin Terzić's team.

Coach Terzić, who previously managed Borussia Dortmund between December 2020 and June 2021, when they won the DFB Pokal with a brilliant 4:1 victory over RasenBallsport Leipzig in the final, has been on the BVB bench for his second term since June 2022. Last season, the German-Croatian finished runner-up with his team.

The reunion

Julian Ryerson made a total of 109 appearances for Union between 2018 and 2022 and with them was promoted to the Bundesliga in 2019. He moved to Borussia Dortmund in January this year. 

Defender Nico Schlotterbeck also has a Berlin past. In the 2020/21 season, he was loaned to Union by SC Freiburg and wore the red and white jersey in 17 competitive matches. 

The head to head

The two clubs have met in ten competitive matches so far, with seven wins for BVB and three for Union. On Matchday three of the 2019/20 season, Union celebrated the first win in their Bundesliga history by defeating Dortmund 3-1 at home. However, Union have not yet won at Signal Iduna Park. 

The personnel

Robin Knoche, Rani Khedira, Laurenz Dehl and András Schäfer will not be available in Dortmund due to injury.

The coaches’ views ahead of the match

"We have to approach the task with a positive attitude and have the conviction to get something in Dortmund," stressed Union head coach Urs Fischer during his press conference on Thursday afternoon. Edin Terzić's team has "a team that has a good mix, consistently goes for back-line and can solve one to one situations well. They also have high individual class and a lot of speed. We have our work cut out for us. We have to stay compact for ninety minutes and have good organisation" he said.

Service info 

Around 4000 Union fans will be there to support their team in Dortmund, with no more tickets available for the away block. Union merchandise can be purchased on site at the mobile Zeughaus store. Important information on visiting the stadium in Dortmund can be found here (German). The match will be broadcast live on Sky, and there will also be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and rbb24.de. As usual, Union will also provide information on the match via the club's own live ticker, as well as in English and Spanish on Twitter.