The men's team of 1. FC Union Berlin will kick off 2025 with Saturday’s Bundesliga trip to face 1. FC Heidenheim 1846. Kick off in matchday 16 at the Voith Arena is at 15:30.

The lie of the land

As the new year starts, both Union and Heidenheim can look back on some mixed results. Heidenheim went into the winter break in 16th place, in the relegation play-off spot, after a 2-0 loss at bottom-placed Bochum. With this result, coach Frank Schmidt's team have now gone ten matches without a win and have only ten points ahead of Saturday's clash.

But Union too went into the break on the back of a loss, 4-1 at Werder Bremen. They sit currently in 12th.

The opponents

In their second top flight season, Heidenheim find themselves in a relegation battle. At time of writing, FCH on ten points, are four off 15th place. This is compared to last season, when the club even made it eighth and with that qualified for the UEFA Europa Conference League. But their success attracted unwanted attention. With Jan-Niklas Beste (to Benfica) and Tim Kleindienst (to Borussia Mönchengladbach), two key players left the club, and ones who were responsible for 38 of their 50 goals scored in the previous season.

Things, however, went better in the club's first season in the European competition. After Heidenheim saw off Swedish opponents BK Häcken in the qualifiers, they beat Olimpija Ljubljana 2-1, Paphos FC 1-0 and Heart of Midlothian 2-0. When six-time English champions Chelsea came to Heidenheim, the team lost 2-0, their first defeat in the Competition. Most recently, FCH lost 3-1 in Istanbul to Basaksehir FK and drew 1-1 at home against FC St. Gallen. With ten points, Schmidt's team are in 16th place and have qualified for the playoff round where FC Kopenhagen await.

Heidenheim were one of the few Bundesliga sides to go abroad during the winter break, when they went to Algorfa on Spain's Mediterranean coast for seven days to prepare for the Bundesliga restart. During this time, the two winter newcomers Budu Zivzivadze (from Karlsruher SC) and Frans Krätzig (on loan from FC Bayern) also joined the team.

The head to head

1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FC Heidenheim have met 14 times in the past. Union have won four, while Heidenheim have won seven. There have been three draws, including the last time the sides met in the Bundesliga, when the game ended 2-2 at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.

The personnel

Union's head coach Steffen Baumgart will have to do without Frederik Rönnow, Ivan Prtajin, Josip Juranovic and Oluwaseun Ogbemudia. Rani Khedira will also miss the game due to a one-match suspension.

The reunions

Lennard Maloney, Mikkel Kaufmann and Tim Skarke will all be coming up against their former employers.

The Berlin born Maloney joined Union in 2012 and went through all the youth teams there. He made his first professional appearance for Union in the 2. Bundesliga in 2017/18. In 2022, after spells in Chemnitz and at Dortmund II, he moved to 1. FC Heidenheim.

Heidenheim’s Mikkel Kaufmann was under contract with 1. FC Union Berlin until only last summer and scored one goal in 19 appearances.

Born in Heidenheim an der Brenz, Tim Skarke transferred from TSG Nattheim to the FCH youth department at the age of eleven. There, the right-footed attacker went through all the junior teams before he was able to play his first minutes in the second division in the 2015/16 season. His first goal wasn't long in coming, and in only his second game, the then 19-year-old scored late to give his team a 1-0 win over bottom-of-the-league MSV Duisburg. The Heidenheim-born player made 70 appearances for his home-town club.

The coaches’ views ahead of the game

“When you talk about Heidenheim, you see a similar path to the one Union has taken,” said Union’s head coach, Steffen Baumgart, during his press conference on Friday morning. “From the Regionalliga to Europe, that's some achievement. It speaks for them and shows that they have stayed true to the basics, high work rate, lots of intense duels. They also show good transitions and counter-pressing and generally have a good plan when they have the ball. In any case, we want to put on a good display, get back the point we lost and show where our path is taking us.”

Meanwhile his opposite number, Schmidt, was cautiously full of praise for Union’s new number one. “With Steffen Baumgart, Union have a coach who won't just carry on as before. He'll have his own ideas and will communicate them with a lot of emotion. Against Kiel, for example, they played with a back four and generally played more offensively. We'll see how Union do it, but we have to look after ourselves first and foremost and regain our stability.”

 Service information

Almost 1,900 Union fans will be travelling to the southern part of Germany for the away game. The Union mobile Zeughaus will also be there. Information on visiting the stadium can be found here (German).

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