Union Berlin wins in Leipzig – and doesn’t really know why. The team doesn’t care at all, they enjoy their role as Bayern hunters. But after spending the first 20 days trying to stay up, they now face a problem: they are out of goals.
President Dirk Zingler strutted grinning through the catacombs of the Leipzig stadium, Nico Gießelmann made fun of the master calculation. And coach Urs Fischer gave the wondrous journey of 1. FC Union Berlin a headline. “The madness continues,” said the Swiss after the 2-1 duel between the Bayern hunters at RB Leipzig. Of these two, only Union is the serious pursuer of leaders Munich and after breaking the 40-point mark, the Köpenickers are faced with a real dilemma: they need a new goal for the season.
Defender Gießelmann slowly approached a wording. “We want to get stuck higher up, we already have a good gap,” said the 31-year-old. And not meant too seriously, in the intoxication of success he immediately built a scenario of how the championship could work out: “We’ve had a brutal run. If we win everything now, then we’ll be German champions.” Gießelmann emphasized that this is not realistic. Nevertheless: The championship leader is still only missing a point. “It’s wonderful for the Bundesliga that it’s really gotten a bit more exciting,” said the new DFB sporting director Rudi Völler.
In addition, after this victory in Leipzig, the question must be allowed as to who should actually stop Union. The Berliners fell behind through a goal by Benjamin Henrichs and were no better than the cup winners. And yet, with goals from Janik Haberer and Robin Knoche, the team got the visitors in such ecstasy that almost an hour after the final whistle they didn’t want to stop singing. “I have a strange feeling. I don’t know, something wasn’t right today,” said Leipzig playmaker Emil Forsberg.
The perplexed people of Leipzig are likely to rack their brains for a week as to why a club like Union is now the first Bayern hunter and not you yourself. In a different way you are perplexed in Berlin. “We’re now on the 20th matchday and have 42 points. That’s a bit surreal. We don’t always know why we’re drawing these games,” said Rani Khedira. The 29-year-old was once sorted out in Leipzig and is one of the cornerstones of Union’s success.
Union played six games this year, winning six times. It is important to note that the Berliners were behind in four of those games. “I would now describe it as quality that we can turn a game like today at any time,” said Knoche, who ensured the win with a hand penalty. Incidentally, it was the fifth in a row against Leipzig in the Bundesliga. RB has such a devastating record against any other club. And so their coach Marco Rose remarked smugly after 18 games unbeaten: “Now we have a new series to talk about.”
There will also be a need for speech at Union during the week. Coach Fischer promised that he would sit down with his team to define a new goal for the season. However, the probability that it will be the championship trophy is close to zero. “We’re just enjoying the moment, the wave of success we’re riding. Then we’ll see what happens in the end,” said Knoche. And Fischer listed where you are already masters – and where you are far from: “When it comes to mentality, solidarity and team spirit, we can keep up. When it comes to football things, there is room for improvement.”
That should be secondary, however, as long as the results are correct. Even setbacks are shaken off. “We believe in ourselves. We are mentally brutally strong. Of course, if you can do it once or twice, then that encourages you,” said Gießelmann and concluded his analysis based on the headline of the trainer: “In Leipzig like that Shooting a game is crazy.”
