Experience and Match Day Minutes Demanded
Union Send a Combined XI to Luckenwalde.
When 1. FC Union Berlin's men's team facs FSV 63 Luckenwalde on Wednesday, the pro's will once again be supported by players from the U21 development team, as is customary in friendlies during an international match break. In preparation for the match, the players have been training together in sessions under the guidance of a mixed coaching team. Kick off at the at the Werner-Seelenbinder-Stadion is at 18:30.
The lie of the land
The Brandenburg Regionalliga team are unbeaten in four matches, taking ten out of a possible 12 points. Having beaten Hertha Zehlendorf, Greifswalder FC, and Chemie Leipzig without conceding, last weekend they scored late to secure a 1-1 draw with Carl Zeiss Jena.
Union, meanwhile, will try to use the occasion to recover from the 2-0 loss in Leverkusen at the weekend.
Founded in 1963 from a merger, FSV 63 Luckenwalde from the Teltow-Fläming district made their Regionalliga debut in the 2015/16 season but had to face relegation to the Oberliga after three years. Since their promotion back in 2020/21, they have established themselves as a constant presence in German's fourth tier.
Michael Braune has been on the at Werner-Seelenbinder-Stadion touchlines since 2021, and with 19 points, has his side sitting curretly in sixth place. The fears of relegation are dismissed for now, but the nine point gap to the top means hopes of promotion are also slim.
Five FSV players will come up against their former club, in one way or another. Fabio Schneider, Tim Schleinitz, Niklas Kaus and Tim Maciejewski all went through various stages of Union's youth programwith the latter even having played in the Bundesliga for Union. Their current sporting director, Hendrik Brösl, worked as the talent development coordinator for Union between 2016 and 2021.
Since the partnership between both clubs began in 2016, there has been a single friendly between the sides, one won by Union in 2023. Wednesday's guests beat Luckenwalde three other times before 2005.
Union's coaching team will have to do without Josip Juranovic, Livan Burcu, and Andrik Markgraf due to injury. Aljoscha Kemlein is training individually as a precaution. In addition, Andrej Ilic, Leopold Querfeld, Alex Král, Andrés Schäfer, Tom Rothe, and Ilyas Ansah are away with their national teams.
“We are looking forward to the Friendly against Luckenwalde. It is a good opportunity to showcase our youth – and we hope that the young players will present themselves well there," said Union's head coach, Steffen baumgart, ahead of the friendly. "Players from the professional squad who have not had much playing time so far will also have the chance to show themselves. Furthermore, we are, of course, looking forward to meeting many Union fans there.”
Individual remaining tickets for the match are still available online at the ticket shop of FSV 63 Luckenwalde.
The match will be broadcast live on AFTV+ and, as usual, Union will also provide information about the match in the club's own live ticker.
