Enlarge image
Never forget: Union is second
Photo:
Filip Singer/EPO
Scene of the game:
The 1:1 equalizer in the 66th minute.
Union foreman Janik Haberer takes the ball, which is blocked after a corner to the penalty line, with all risk.
With all his might.
With all technology.
A shot like a punch from the Hulk from the Marvel Comics.
A compliment to the groundskeeper in Leipzig that the goal net endured.
A symbolic scene for the entire Union season.
Result of the game:
Union also wins 2-1 at RB Leipzig, again after falling behind.
Haberer and Robin Knoche with a penalty kick turned the gap after Benjamin Henrichs' 0:1 into the next win.
Click here for the match report.
And never forget: Union is still second, one point behind Bayern.
The first half:
intense, synonymous with poor chances in football.
Benjamin Henrichs put an end to the wait, his powerful shot from 20 meters surprised both the defense and the goalkeeper.
RB's self-confidence was noticeable after 18 unbeaten competitive games, but it wasn't really dangerous without the injured Christopher Nkunku and Dani Olmo.
The second half:
A typical Union half.
Strike cold if the opponent allows it.
First Haberer, then Robin Knoche, who keeps his nerve with the hand penalty.
RB put on the pressure, RB scored an offside goal, and in the end Urs Fischer's eleven, this football-disciplined team, won again.
"It feels surreal," Rani Khedira says afterwards, but it's not.
Union's success is not a fairy tale, no matter how often it is written.
It is the result of what coach Urs Fischer and his team come up with week after week.
It's called maturity.
Player of the Match:
One who wasn't even on the pitch.
Leipzig's captain and defense chief Willi Orban deliberately missed this important game because he had donated stem cells during the week.
At Sky he was praised in the sky as if he were the superhero of our time, but in fact: this is the role model that one expects from a captain.
Not the player of the game:
His teammate Timo Werner is going through a tough time at the moment.
He had promised himself so much from his return to Leipzig, Leipzig had promised himself so much of it.
He missed the World Cup injured, which in retrospect might not have harmed him.
But even then it doesn't start.
He has to listen to the fans' displeasure, like in times he actually hoped to be behind him.
Also consistently unhappy against Union.
Sound of the game:
The silence of the Union fans has already become a tradition in games against RB, the first quarter of an hour remains silent.
RB coach Marco Rose called it "hypocritical" before the game.
But the fact is that not everyone in Germany shares the opinion of Leipzig's new manager Max Eberl, who praised RB as "this great club" on Sky before the game.
Later in the game, Eberl once again had to put up with an ugly smear poster against him from the Union block.
Game Stats I:
Tippers have it so easy in this game.
For the fifth time in a row, Union has won against Leipzig in the league, for the fifth time in a row with the result 2-1.
RB was only able to turn the tables in the cup.
Final result in the semifinals of the previous year: clear, 2:1.
Match II stats:
There are only three clubs in the top European leagues who have won all their games so far this year: FC Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund – and 1. FC Union Berlin.
BVB should feel honored to appear in such company.
Quote of the game:
"Union has this Eisenbieger mentality." Sky live reporter Wolf Fuss with a homage to the Schlosserjungs from Oberschöneweide.
And the Urberliner Graciano Rocchigiani, the most famous son of a Sardinian iron bender, should smile graciously in heaven.
Tip of the game:
If you still underestimate Union, it's your own fault.
As a service, the officials of Ajax Amsterdam, Union's next opponents in the Europa League, said 'Be careful!
Never underestimate the Union!« in Dutch means: »Attentie!
Union nooit onder Schatten!« Union against the great Ajax, then in two weeks for the top game against Bayern.
You have to pinch yourself, but this is the new normal.
Findings of the game:
Never again should anyone claim that what Berlin is doing doesn't work.
At least not until the upcoming election day.