Union Meet the New Boss
Time for Another Frankfurt Thriller?
1. FC Union Berlin's men's team will host SG Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday evening. Union won a wild encounter earlier this season 4-3, and another hard-fought match is expected. Kick off at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei is at 20:30
The lie of the land
Eintracht have endured a slow start to the new calendar year, and are waiting for their first win in seven competitive matches. Last Saturday, they lost to Leverkusen, their fourth defeat in a row, but new coach Albert Riera could bring a little stability to the side again.
Union have also been waiting for their next win for five games now. Last weekend Andrej Kramarić's quick double shortly before half-time and an own goal saw them go down 3-0 to Hoffenheim.
Eintracht started the current season with two wins and remained in the European places until matchday 8. Since then, however, they have stagnated, winning only one of their last nine Bundesliga matches. They have also bowed out of the UEFA Champions League already, with only four points.
Partly because of this, the club's management decided to relieve head coach Dino Toppmöller of his duties and replace him with Albert Riera, with the Spaniard expected to bring more stability to the defence in particular. Currently, the Hessians, together with 1. FC Heidenheim, have the weakest defence in the league – both teams have conceded 45 goals so far. What is particularly alarming is that Eintracht have conceded at least three goals in each of their last five league games.
They are, however, one of the stronger attacking teams in the table. With the fourth-highest number of goals in the league, the duo of Can Uzun and Ritsu Dōan pose a particular danger in front of goal – together they have scored ten goals and provided nine assists. In addition, their strength in one-on-ones provides a base for their attacking play. With almost 2,000 duels won Eintracht have the third-best record in the Bundesliga.
With 21 meetings, Union have played Eintrachtmore than any other side in the Bundesliga bar one. Union have won five of those games, six have ended in draws while SGE have won ten. Union, however, are unbeaten in the last four games, winning the last two.
Between 2018 and 2021, Union goalkeeper, Frederik Rönnow, played in 21 competitive matches for the Hessians, including seven appearances in the UEFA Europa League. Shortly afterwards, however, the two parted ways and the Dane joined Union.
Livan Burcu is another former Eintracht youth. The Frankfurt-born player was there for eight years before being signed by Union, with a stopover in Sandhausen.
Horst Heldt, director of men's professional football at 1. FC Union Berlin, also played 67 times for Eintracht between 1999 and 2001.
Tom Rothe, Robert Skov, Diogo Leite and Josip Juranović will not be available on Friday evening.
"Frankfurt are a very confident team on the ball who rely primarily on their combination play," said Union coach, Steffen Baumgart, during his press conference on Wednesday afternoon. "Even with their new coach, we expect to see a team that consistently play forwards and have continued to score goals despite their recent negative run. As in previous games, it will be crucial for us to find our own way forward and take regular advantage of our opportunities. The last game was emotional, a special highlight, so we would like to repeat that success on Friday evening."
As usual, the Stadion An der Alten Försterei will open two hours before kick-off; the match is sold out in both the home and away sections.
There are still extensive traffic disruptions on public transport, and travel via the ‘Altstadt Köpenick’ tram lines is only possible with rail replacement services. All visitors are therefore advised to arrive early. Further information can be found in the info letter from the Berlin police (German).
In addition, due to works at the Köpenick S-Bahn station, Hämmerlingstraße is closed to motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians in both directions. This also affects the railway underpass at the corner of Am Bahndamm/Hämmerlingstraße. However, from 17:00 onwards, access to the forest walkway there will be open for Union fans arriving and departing on foot.
The match will be broadcast live on Sky in Germany, and on the BBC IPlayer in the UK. There will also be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and rbb24. Union will also provide information about the match on the club's own live ticker, in German, and on Twitter in English.
As ever, a comprehensive English-only match report will be available on the Union website shortly after the final whilstle.
