Season Starts for Union's Men in the Pokal
Up For the Cup in Braunschweig
1. FC Union Berlin's men's team will travel to Lower Saxony on Sunday where, in the first competitive match of the new season, they will face Eintracht Braunschweig in the first round of the DFB Pokal. Kick off in the Eintracht-Stadion is at 15:30
The lie of the land
Braunschweig have already started their new season, seeing action in the 2. Bundesliga. So far, they have played twice, winning away in Magdeburg, but losing at home against VfL Bochum last Friday.
For Union, however, the match represents the first competitive game of the new season. They played their final friendly of the pre-season against English Premier League representatives Ipswich Town at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei last weekend, where they suffered a 4-2 defeat.
Eintracht Braunschweig are one of Germany's most traditional of clubs. Founded on the 15th of December 1895, they were one of the founding members of the Bundesliga in 1963. The greatest success in their history was celebrated in the 1966/67 season when they secured the German championship.
In the following decades, Eintracht were regularly represented in the German top flight, before their days of wandering between the Bundesliga, the 2. Bundesliga, and the 3. Liga began in the 1980s. Despite some sporting setbacks, the club - famous for their blue and yellow shirts and the Eintracht-Stadion, itself - remain one of the most well-known teams in the country. Currently, the Braunschweiger play in the 2. Bundesliga where they finished the last season in 15th place.
Union and Braunschweig have faced each other multiple times in the past, the most recent encounter taking place in 2024, a Friendly that ended in a 2-2 draw. In the 30 matches played between the sides, Union have won twelve times, nine matches ended in a draw, while Eintracht have won nine
Benjamin Kessel, currently Braunschweig's sporting director, and Ken Reichel, their youth coordinator, have a history with both clubs. Kessel played 41 competitive matches for Union between 2015 and 2017, before and after he played for Eintracht . Reichel wore Union's red and white jersey 37 times after his move from Braunschweig to Berlin and celebrated promotion to the Bundesliga with Union in May 2019.
In the first competitive match of the new season, the coaching team led by head coach Mauro Lustrinelli has to do without Frederik Rönnow, Oliver Burke, Andrej Ilić, Stanley Nsoki, and Robert Skov .
"We are excited that it is finally starting," said Union's head coach, Mauro Lustrinelli, during his press conference on Friday afternoon. "After a long preparation, we are still in a process, improving day by day. Now we are facing a team that is very solid, very fit, and have a good transition game. For us, this will be a good test to see how well we can already bring our strengths onto the pitch."
2,500 Unioner will accompany the team on Sunday to Lower Saxony, the Union mobile Zeughaus will also be on site. Information about visiting the stadium can be found here.
The match will be broadcast live on Sky and on the rbb audio stream, Union provides updates via their official live ticker.
