Altglienicke Instead of the Bundesliga
Union to Test Themselves Against VSG
1. FC Union Berlin's men's first team will travel to the Spree-Arena in Fürstenwalde on Wednesday, to gain some further match practice during the international break. Kick off against the Regionalliga side VSG Altglienicke is at 18:30.
The lie of the land
VSG Altglienicke are currently fourth with 12 points after six games in the Regionalliga, having dropped points only in the 1-0 loss away at 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig and in going down 3-1 at home to Rot-Weiß Erfurt. They were also successful in the first round of the Berliner Landespokal beating SV Adler Berlin 1950 11-1.
Union, meanwhile, suffered their first defeat of the season after the successful cup start in Gütersloh and the 2-1 victory against VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. On Sunday they lost 30 away against Borussia Dortmund.
VSG Altglienicke can look back on a turbulent history. Founded after the Second World War, the club has borne its current name since 1952 and have remained one of the few sports associations that survived the GDR era without being renamed, and allied to an industrial branch. After reunification, only "e.V." was added to the end of their name, meaning that VSG are a genuine south-east Berlin Traditionsverein.
On the pitch, Altglienicke have experienced their greatest upswing in recent years. With promotion to the Regionalliga Nordost in the 2017/18 season, VSG quickly established themselves in Germany's fourth highest league and have now been there for eight years. In 2020, the club celebrated their biggest success so far by winning the Berlin Landespokal against Viktoria Berlin (6-0), and in the same season,coming second in the league. They have however repeatedly changed their home venues as its own stadium does not meet the league's requirements. Currently,Altglienicke play its matches at the Fürstenwalder Spree-Arena.
VSG and FCU have met four times so far, all friendlies. While Union won the first two games in 2012/13 and 2014/15, 5-0, Altglienicke got their revenge the following year with a 4-0 win, followed by their 3-1 victory the last time the sides met in 2018/19.
Winger / wingback, Julien Friedrich, has been wearing the jersey of VSG since January 2025. The 18-year-old is on loan to the Blau-Weißen until the end of the current season.
Initially active as a youth team co-trainer, then playing co-trainer and then interim first team head coach, Torsten Mattuschka is now sporting director at Altglienicke. He made a total of 281 competitive appearances for Union between 2005 and 2014, before wearing the VSG shirt 46 times before the end of his playing career.
Union's coaching staff must make do without Leopold Querfeld, András Schäfer, Josip Juranović, Alex Král, Derrick Köhn, Aljoscha Kemlein, Tom Rothe and Ilyas Ansah, all of whom are on international duty. Also missing will be Livan Burcu, Stanley Nsoki und Andrik Markgraf.
“We have scheduled this game to stay in rhythm and to let the guys who haven't gotten much playing time in this phase participate now," said union's head coach, Steffen baumgart, ahead of Wednesday's friendly. "We will also have players from the youth team with us, which is important for their development and for the club's as well. We are looking forward to playing in the stadium in Fürstenwalde, a good atmosphere, and many Unioner on site.”
Tickets for the match are still available online in the VSG Altglienicke's ticket shop. The mobile Union Zeughaus will also be present on site.
