On Wednesday, 15 January 2025, the men's team of 1. FC Union Berlin will face FC Augsburg. Kick off between the Bundesliga’s twelfth and thirteenth placed teams is at 20:30 at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.

The lie of the land

FCA were beaten 1-0 last Sunday at home against last season’s runners-up VfB Stuttgart, as Deniz Undav scored the only goal of the game in the 65th minute. This was off the back of another pair of losses before Christmas, the 5-1 against Holstein Kiel and the 2-0 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

Last weekend, meanwhile, Union travelled south to face 1. FC Heidenheim 1846. They ended up losing 2-0, with the Union players having to play with ten men after Tom Rothe’s first half red card.

The opponents

Jess Thorup's team are currently 13th in the table, one position, and, with 16, one point behind Union on 17. With 16 games played, the side from the Fuggerstadt have recorded four wins and four draws each, while they have come away empty-handed eight times.

During the winter break, FCA played Bundesliga rivals TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in a 120-minute friendly, but after taking an early lead through Elvis Rexhbecaj, they went on to lose 3-1.

In the DFB Pokal, however, Augsburg have continued to provide excitement. In the round of 16 tie against 2. Liga side Karlsruher SC, Ruben Vargas' late equaliser in the 120th minute sent the game into a penalty shoot-out, which Augsburg ultimately won 5-4. In the next round, Augsburg will face VfB Stuttgart.

The head-to-head

In 14 previous meetings, 1. FC Union Berlin have only managed to beat Augsburg once – and that was at home. Augsburg have won six of the encounters between the two, while a further seven have ended in a draw.

The personnel

Union's head coach Steffen Baumgart will not be able to call on Tom Rothe due to a red card suspension.

The reunions

Rani Khedira was under contract with FC Augsburg from 2017 to 2021, playing 127 games for them before his move to Berlin. Kevin Vogt also has a history with the club. The native of Witten appeared in 61 competitive matches for FCA between 2012 and 2014. Union midfielder László Bénes also wore the Augsburg shirt for six months in spring 2021. He made 12 competitive appearances for FCA.

The visitors‘ centre-back Keven Schlotterbeck made 27 appearances for Union in the 2019/20 campaign.

The coaches’ views ahead of the game

“We have two home games in a row, we want to keep the points here and thus find our way back onto the road to success. Therefore, we have to develop pressure and also score goals,” said Union head coach, Steffen Baumgart, during his press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “The defeats of Augsburg were often very close, which shows that they are doing well and also have their plan. We ourselves have to take on the game and find answers both defensively and offensively,’ said head coach Steffen Baumgart in the run-up to the game.

‘We want to get our first away win and can no longer hide. We played well against Stuttgart, but now we have to take the next steps, especially in offense, so that we can score against Union. I have known Steffen Baumgart for several years, know his system and know that he is very emotional. We have to prepare for an intense game with a lot of duels,’ said Jess Thorup before the clash.

Service information

As usual, the stadium An der Alten Försterei opens two hours before kick-off, with all home tickets long since sold out.

There are still extensive traffic disruptions in the public transport system, and it is only possible to travel via the ‘Altstadt Köpenick’ tram lines using the rail replacement service. All visitors are therefore advised to arrive early.

The game will be broadcast live on Sky. In addition, there will be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and on rbb24. As usual, Union will also provide information about the game on the club's own live ticker, as well as offering live updates in English and Spanish on Twitter.