If you check the Gameday 5 matches in Bundesliga which are ahead today, the first thing to look is the 10 time consecutive winner Bayern Munich, who are playing against Union Berlin. And for the not so regular Germany football fan, this pair will look like a champion playing against a newly promoted football team. But, that’s only for rookies. If you look at the table and know something about German football, you’ll know that the other club in Berlin is a well-established Bundesliga club, who is playing in Europa League this season and is actually level on points with the Bavarians.The stuff that dreams are made of 😴 💭@FCUnion_en with the chance to topple the champions @FCBayernEN at home on #MD5 and go clear at the top of the #Bundesliga! 😊. Question is, will they do it? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/mVGimvHlDX— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) September 3, 2022 Union Berlin joined the top rank in 2019 and in their rookie season finished 11th. But it’s the second season which is usually difficult to survive for all Bundesliga newcomers. Still, Union passed the test with flying colors, finishing 7th in 2020, just enough for the Conference League. A surprise participation in European competition didn’t worn out the squad, as the Berlin club successfully juggled in the two competition and finished the last season even better – in 5th place, with Europa League now the competition they are participating in. And the recipe for success is ‘simple’.“We have continuity in the background, i.e. in management, in the coaching and functional team. That helps enormously. Person A knows exactly what person B wants, so the processes, for example in the case of transfers, can be implemented more quickly. It is also crucial that a player has to fit the coach. This is the only way to work efficiently. That’s why we try to have the squad together very early on so that the team can get used to it” says sporting director Oliver Ruhnert, who is also a member or Germany’s Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary group in the Iserlohn City Council.War of the worlds in Bundesliga: Fan-built Union and corporate wet dream RB Leipzig clash in East BerlinThis success has certainly impressed Uli Honess, Bayern Munich legend, who claimed they are doing a superb job, while coach Julian Nagelsmann was not so impressed, as Bayern supremo led his team to a 5-2 and 4-0 wins over Union last season. In fact, Berlin has never won against Bavarians in their 6 attempts, drawing 2 and loosing 4. After losing Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona, the Bavarians added Sadio Mane and all of a sudden, they are even more efficient – 16 goals in 4 games. New to them are, you guessed it. Union Berlin with 11.Furious fans ordered Hertha players to take off their shirtsBerlin’s Sheraldo Becker is the league’s top scorer with four goals (plus two assists), while other striker Jordan has two of each, while in Bayern, Sadio Mane scored three goals, and is followed by Jamal Musiala (three goals, one assist), Serge Gnabry (two, one) and Leroy Sane (two, one).“They’ve developed well, play very directly up towards their two strikers. It’s a great stadium with good fans. We’ll try our best to win there. It’s a difficult place to play, but it’s doable” said coach Nagelsmann.This is football, people. Remember how privileged we are to have it. Enjoy the success, revel in it, because what we are achieving on the pitch is extraordinary. But always that remember success can be fleeting, even if it won’t be. Love,though… Love lasts longer. https://t.co/vIxcH5uXty— 1. FC Union Berlin (@fcunion_en) August 21, 2022 And he is right, playing against Union crowd, but also their defense is not an easy task. Berlin have lost just three home games since the start of the 2020/21 season and concede an average of just one goal per game at their Stadion an der Alten Försterei.”Playing against the ball in front of our opponents is our trump card; we don’t allow much to pass us” says coach Fischer. And today’s game will be a perfect test to back up that theory.BUNDESLIGA – MATCHDAY 5Friday Borussia Dortmund – Hoffenheim 1-0 (1-0)/Reus 16/Saturday16.30: (2.04) Leverkusen (3.70) Freiburg (3.90)16.30: (3.05) Bochum (3.40) Werder (2.50)16.30: (8.50) Union Berlin (5.60) Bayern (1.41)16.30: (1.86) Stuttgart (3.70) Schalke (4.80)16.30: (2.21) Wolfsburg (3.50) Koln (3.60)19.30: (3.80) Eintr.Frankfurt (3.60) RB Leipzig (2.09)Sunday 16.30: (2.63) Augsburg (3.30) Hertha (3.00)18.30: (2.30) M’ gladbach (3.50) Mainz (3.35)***odds are subject to change
