Union Host Leipzig
Fifth Placed Bundesliga Side Come to Köpenick

In the 20th game of the men's Bundesliga season, 1. FC Union Berlin will host RasenBallsport Leipzig at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Kick off on Saturday, 1 February 2025 is at 18:30.
The lie of the land
After 19 rounds of Bundesliga matches, head coach Marco Rose's team are currently in fifth place in the table, but are already lagging 16 points behind league leaders FC Bayern München with 32 points. Though unbeaten in their last two domestic games, Leipzig only managed to take two points out of their games against VfL Bochum (3-3) and Bayer 04 Leverkusen (2-2). Both matches followed a similar pattern, if the tides went in different directions. In Bochum, Leipzig gave away a three goal, first half lead, while against the champions from Leverkusen, they came back from two down.
Union, for their part, were unable to build on their successful start to the second half of the season against FSV Mainz 05, losing 3-0 at FC St. Pauli last weekend.
The opponents
While the team from the trade fair city are still in the hunt for European football nationally, their UEFA Champions League campaign has not gone as planned. As the league phase dew to a close on Wednesday evening, the team were ranked 32nd out of 36 and, with only three points, will take no further part in the competition.
This trend could not be changed by the return of Xavi Simmons and David Raum, who, after long periods out injured in the first half of the season, are now back as permanent members of the first team and have been involved in eight of ten Bundesliga goals in 2025 so far. To ease the personnel situation on the defensive flanks, the Saxons also strengthened their squad with the signing of Ridle Baku in the current transfer window. The 26-year-old was a regular starter in Wolfsburg and has appeared in every Leipzig game in the new calendar year so far.
The head to head
Since the two teams first met in 2014, there have been 15 more encounters. Both sides have won seven each while there have been two draws. Between May 2021 and February 2023 the game was won 2-1, six times in a row
The personnel
Union's head coach Steffen Baumgart will not be able to call upon Oluwaseun Ogbemudia and Andrej Ilic, while Leopold Querfeld is also missing due to a suspension.
Ahead of the game:
"Leipzig have now got more and more players back who have been out for a long time and are getting into their rhythm," said Union's head coach, Steffen Baumgart, ahead of the game. "Nevertheless, it also starts at 0-0 on Saturday. We play at home and want to light the stadium on fire, but we know what to expect. They have very good individual players, we have to close down the spaces and take on the duels."
Service information
As usual, the Stadion An der Alten Försterei opens two hours before kick-off; the game is sold out.
There are still extensive traffic disruptions to local public transport, and the ‘Altstadt Köpenick’ tram route can only be reached via 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 providing live updates in English and Spanish on Twitter.