Lustrinelli Looks for a First Away Win Against Bayer 04
Union Travel to Leverkusen
1. FC Union Berlin men’s first-team squad will travel to the Rhineland on Saturday for their first away match of the new Bundesliga season. Kick off against bayer 04 Leverkusen is at 15:30 at the BayArena
The lie of the land
Leverkusen opened their league season last weekend away match in Elversberg but fell to a surprising 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Bundesliga newcomers.
Union hosted Eintracht Frankfurt at the Stadion An der Alten, meanwhile, securing a breathless 3–3 draw in stoppage time.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH were formed on 1 April 1999 following the spin-off of the professional footballing side from the Turn- und Sportverein Bayer 04 Leverkusen e.V., founded in 1904. Leverkusen secured promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979 and have been a continuous fixture in Germany’s top flight ever since; they are one of the more established clubs in German professional football. The Werkself, who finished last season in sixth place, play their home matches at the BayArena, which has a capacity of 30,210 spectators.
Among the greatest successes in the club’s history are winning the UEFA Cup in 1988, the DFB-Pokal victories in 1993 and 2024, and reaching the UEFA Champions League final in 2002. None of these were as celebrated as their German championship in 2024, when they made Bundesliga history in the 2023/24 season, becoming the first – and so far only – club to go through an entire season without suffering a single defeat.
Leverkusen and Union have faced each other 17 times to date. With ten wins, the Werkself have the better record, against Union’s two. Five matches have ended in a draw.
Both teams won at home last season. Union won their home match at the Alte Försterei 1–0, whilst Bayer 04 won the fixture at the BayArena 2–0
Mauro Lustrinelli and his coaching team will have to do without Oliver Burke, Andrej Ilić, Stanley Nsoki, and Marvin Friedrich on Saturday afternoon.
“In the last game, despite conceding three goals, we didn't allow many chances and overall took another step forward," said an optimistic Union heaqd coach, mauro Lustrinelli, during his press conference on Friday afternoon. "The team are implementing what they've been through in training very well. Leverkusen are also in a process of development with their new coach and showed a good performance in Elversberg despite the result. It will be crucial to give the Leverkusen players as little space as possible, keep the areas tight, and defend consistently as a team."
Bayer’s coach Carles Martínez Novell stated at his own press conference, meanwhile, that "Union are a team with a great mentality. We lacked that in the first game. We need to understand how we should present ourselves in such a game. It requires the right balance between fighting and a winning mentality."
Over 1,700 Unioner are traveling to Leverkusen. Information about visiting the stadium can be found here.
The match will be broadcast in Germany live by DAZN and Sky. Additionally, there will be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and at rbb24. As usual, Union will offer updates in a live ticker, while offering updates on Twitter in English, and a comprehensive, English only match report after the final whistle.
