Matchday 1: 1. FC Union Berlin 0 - 4 RB Leipzig

Honoring those who couldn't be there. Source: Union Berlin

1. FC Union Berlin: Gikiewicz; Trimmel, Schlotterbeck, Friedrich, Lenz; Prömel, Andrich, Gentner (Ujah); Abdullahi (Becker), Bülter, Andersson (Polter)

RB Leipzig: Gulacsi; Konate, Mukiele, Orban; Halstenberg, Klostermann; Demme (Laimer), Sabitzer, Kampl (Forsberg); Werner (Nkunku), Poulsen

The days and weeks leading up to Union Berlin’s first-ever game in the top flight of the Bundesliga were taken up by a narrative that had very little to do with the game on the field and everything to do with the culture of the sport itself. 

Union Berlin have been endlessly hyped by the media as a “cult” club whose passionate fans built their stadium and can outsing anyone in Germany, a club that values community more than commercialism. For their first match in the Bundesliga to be at home against RB Leipzig -- a franchise literally the opposite of Union Berlin in every way -- was both terribly fitting and utterly unfortunate. 

The Union Berlin ultras decided to stay silent for the first 15 minutes of the match, an atmosphere boycott to show Red Bull’s German side exactly what they thought of them. What should have been a party was instead a protest, with Union and their fans showing that despite promotion, not much has changed; they are still the same club with the same values. 

So, for the first 15 minutes of the match, the only fans to be heard were Leipzig’s. However, the match itself was relatively even-keeled; If anything, the ball was in the Leipzig half more than Union’s. Union had a few decent, albeit not terribly dangerous, chances, with an airborne Andersson forcing Leipzig keeper Gulacsi into an awkward punch-out of a save within the first ten minutes. Shortly after that, a typically well-placed Trimmel corner kick also caused some trouble for Gulacsi.

Based on that brief display, Union appeared to be ready to play toe to toe - and all of that without their famously loud and passionate support at full volume! Things could only get better once the protest ended and the party truly began, right?

Well, no. In fact, the opposite thing happened. The floodgates opened -- both on the pitch and in the sky, as the rain began pouring down in Berlin. In the 16th minute, Leipzig defender Marcel Halstenberg was left wide open on the right side of the goal and shot straight into the back of the net with ease; it was their first shot on goal, and it went in. Union Berlin right back and captain Christopher Trimmel was marking someone else, and right winger Suleiman Abdullahi wasn’t fast enough to fill the space Trimmel left behind -- an unusual defensive lapse for the team that allowed the fewest goals in the second division last season and are notoriously difficult to beat at home. The worst of it, however, was yet to come.

In the 23rd minute, a goal was slotted past Gikiewicz from short range after a bit of a hullabaloo in the box following a Leipzig corner, but after the interference of the infamous VAR it was declared to be a handball from Poulsen and thus chalked off. According to the newest iteration of rules, if the ball makes any contact with the hand -- intentional or otherwise -- the goal does not count. And so, Union were spared further blushes temporarily, thanks to our robotic referee overlords.

However, in the 31st minute, another Leipzig goal came, and this one was entirely legitimate. Before that, Union had a few chances from their own, including a Prömel chance in the 28th minute that forced Gulasci into a save and led to another Trimmel corner. But only a few minutes later, uncharacteristically poor distribution from Gikiewicz meant that a throw to Abdullahi was bungled straight to Leipzig and converted into a goal by Sabitzer (who was by far Leipzig’s man of the match, involved in all four of their goals). 

Gikiewicz never ever makes mistakes like this. His mature, steady goalkeeping was a huge factor in Union’s promotion; there is a reason he was named Berlin footballer of the year (and took a hilarious nude photo with the trophy, natch). So to see him make that kind of costly error made the resulting goal hurt all the more.

From here, the wheels came off a bit. Union’s play became less calm and far more frantic. Having never played at this level, and now 2-0 down -- something that rarely ever happened to them last season on the way to promotion -- the team lost their heads. 

Another misplaced pass around the 35th minute left Leipzig with an open shot on goal, but some last-minute defending sent the ball into the stands. Misplaced passes, indeed, were coming thick and furious from Union. So many giveaways fed right into Leipzig’s gegenpressing style and enabled them to easily make it 3-0 right before halftime. Timo Werner blasted the ball past the defense from distance in the 42nd minute and there was absolutely nothing Gikiewicz could have done about it -- even if he had managed to get a hand on it, the power behind the shot seemed inevitable to guide the ball into the back of the net. 

It was a world-class goal from one of the league’s top goalscorers. Those happen. You’d just prefer they didn’t happen when you’re already 2-0 down.

At halftime, Urs Fischer opted for an attacking sub, bringing on striker Anthony Ujah for midfielder Christian Gentner. It makes sense; when you have to dig yourself out of a hole that is three goals deep, you might as well take a chance and bring on the guy with a proven Bundesliga scoring record. Gikiewicz returned to his usual form and made a huge double save early in the half to keep the scoreline unchanged. 

The next Union sub was a like for like sub, with new signing Sheraldo Becker replacing Abdullahi on the wing. Becker’s presence instantly lifted Union’s attack; his ability to challenge the Leipzig players one-on-one was unmatched by anyone else in the squad, and his speed and creativity helped Union present more of an attacking threat to a Leipzig side that really didn’t have to do much else in order to secure the three points. 

Shortly before the hour mark, Andersson was through on goal when Konate came through with a sliding challenge that sent Andersson to the ground. However, Konate absolutely did not win the ball. This should, in theory, be a penalty -- or at least earn a second look from VAR to see if it should be a penalty. However, the referee ignored it, and what could have been a momentum-changing moment for Union Berlin came to naught. 

Instead, Nkunku -- Leipzig’s new signing from PSG -- came on for Werner and scored the fourth and final goal of the match in the 68th minute on what was his first touch ever in the league. It was a beautiful cross to Sabitzer, who headed the ball down past Poulsen straight to the feet of the new signing, who just had to tap it in past Gikiewicz. 

In response, Urs Fischer made his third and final change of the game and brought on Polter for Andersson, whose fresh legs also helped boost the Union attack, despite the hole they had dug for themselves being now far too deep to dig themselves out of. 

So, very little went right for Union in this match. What went wrong? Well, missing from the starting XI in this match were center back Florian Hübner, left back Ken Reichel, and defensive midfielder Manuel Schmiedebach. This means only two of the four from that famously good back line from last season started against Leipzig, and they also didn’t have Schmiedebach in front of them to do the necessary dirty work of fouling everyone to pieces before they could even get within sight of Gikiewicz’s goal. (It didn’t help that another one of Union’s masters of the dark arts, midfielder Grischa Prömel, was uncharacteristically quiet in this match.) 

I’m not sure why Fischer opted for Lenz at left back overly the highly experienced Reichel, who prior to joining Union led Braunschweig through multiple promotions, including to the top flight. Gentner was relatively anonymous throughout the game, something that one could never say about the diminutive Schmiedebach, who always seems to be under the opposing team’s feet at any given time. And with Hübner still coming back from injury, I’d have liked to have seen Neven Subotic starting alongside Friedrich instead of 22-year-old Keven Schlotterbeck, signed on loan from SC Freiburg in the summer. 

Friedrich is a very talented young defender but I think he benefits from having an older and more experienced partner in the center of defense -- a role that easily could have been filled by the 30-year-old Subotic, a two-time Bundesliga champion with Borussia Dortmund. Then again, 23-year-old Friedrich appeared to have aged a decade by the end of this game, so maybe he can be the wise old man of the Union defense now? 

Finally, with Urs Fischer saying in his pre-match press conference that Abdullahi was two weeks behind the rest of the squad thanks to a delayed start to his preseason as a result of visa issues, I was very surprised to see him starting instead of Sheraldo Becker. And Abdullahi’s rustiness showed; he was at least partially involved in the mistakes that led to the first two Leipzig goals. Becker, on the other hand, looked instantly comfortable on the pitch when he came on. I’d definitely like to see him start next week at Augsburg it what already amounts to a crucial relegation six-pointer for Union. However, when it comes down to it, I am not Urs Fischer. (An easy mistake to make, yes, I know.) He knows this squad far better than I do and must have had his reasons for making the personnel decisions he did. Hopefully he has learned from them as well. 

Despite this being a game where very little worked in Union’s favor, I came away still feeling hopeful for the season. The team’s passing was far too sloppy and the individual errors that resulted were instantly capitalized on by a ruthless Leipzig side that, with top four aspirations, were always going to be tough opponent. But I don’t think either of these things isn’t fixable. Urs Fischer is a smart man with a talented squad at his disposal and I have faith that he’ll land on the right personnel to get the job done. And for Union, the job is relatively simple: don’t get relegated. 

The dream of promotion came truly. Now reality has truly set in. The Bundesliga is a tough league filled with talented teams, and Union cannot make the same mistakes they did against Leipzig if they want to stay up.

--

Lee Jutton is a contributing writer and co-founder of Eisern NYC. She lives on Twitter @leiladaisyj.