Eisern NYC

BayArena, Leverkusen Saturday, September 21 9:30 a.m. EDT, 15:30 CEST Match Officials Referee: Robert Hartmann Assistants: Christian Dietz and Markus Schüller 4th Official: Nicolas Winter Video Assistant: Robert Kampka All-Time in All Competitions: 2 Leverkusen wins Union's League Position: 12th, 4 points, -3 GD Union's League Form:  D-D // L-D-W-L Leverkusen's League Position: 8th, 7 points, -1 GD  Leverkusen's League Form:  D-W // W-W-D-L Team News Neven Subotić will serve a one-match ban for his second yellow card sending off (the German "Gelb-Rot" is a much cleaner phrase, in my opinion) against Bremen. Grischa Prömel, still out with a knee injury, is unavailable as well. Urs Fischer also mentioned that the club will be without "three who played in the Baltic Sea Cup," which is an Under-21 tournament, where Union lost 2-1 to Halmstads. Those three were ostensibly Lennard Maloney, Julius Kade, and Maurice Opfer...

Stadion An der Alten Försterei, Berlin Saturday, August 31 12:30 p.m. EDT, 18:30 CEST Match Officials Referee:  Dr. Felix Brych Assistants:  Mark Borsch and Stefan Lupp 4th Official:  Martin Petersen Video Assistant:  Günter Perl All-Time in All Competitions:  2 Dortmund wins Union's League Position:  14th place, 1 point, -4 GD Union's League Form:  W-D // D-D // L-D Dortmund's League Position:  1st place, 6 points, +6 GD Dortmund's League Form:  L-D-W-W // W-W Union Berlin had to come from behind, but Sebastian Andersson's 80th minute goal last week, the first in the club's Bundesliga history, earned the club their first top flight point. With those accomplishments out of the way, Union return home this weekend to face one of the title favorites. So, what can Union expect to accomplish against a club with the attacking prowess of Borussia Dortmund, who have already racked up eight goals and a +6 goal difference...

WWK Arena, Augsburg Saturday, August 23 9:30 a.m. EDT, 15:30 CEST Match Officials Referee:  Robert Schröder Assistants:  Jan Nietzel-Petersen and Guido Kleve 4th Official:  Patrick Alt Video Review:  Bibiana Steinhaus All-Time in All Competitions:  1 Augsburg win, 3 draws Union Berlin's League Form:  L-W-D // D-D // L Augsburg's League Form:  W-L-D-L-L // L I mean, this rain couldn't have helped... Well, Union Berlin come into this match following their worst Bundesliga loss in history... so, there's only one way to go from here, right? Right?! To earn safety in the Bundesliga and avoid the relegation playoff for that matter, you need to finish no worse than 15th, which means finding three teams in the league that will finish below you. I'm probably not going to harp on that point every week , but it'll also take at least a month to really figure out who Union fans should be hoping loses week-in, week-out. But there's a...

Stadion an der Alten Försterei, Berlin Sunday, August 18 12:00 p.m. EDT, 18:00 CEST Referee:  Markus Schmidt All-Time in All Competitions:  1 Union win, 2 Leipzig wins, 1 draw Union Berlin Last Season: 2. Bundesliga 3rd, 57 points, +23 GD, promoted via play-off RB Leipzig Last Season:  Bundesliga 3rd, 66 points, +34 GD Union Team News Out:  Hübner (knee/match fitness,) Abdullahi (match fitness) Since it was hard to follow the pre-season in the US (and I haven't seen a live minute of action since the final whistle of the promotion play-off,) I'm not really in a great position to predict what the XI is going to look like. Pretty sure Rafał Gikiewicz will be in goal, though... also, Christopher Trimmel at right back. Florian Hübner is still a doubt because he hasn't had much time in training, having injured his knee earlier in summer training (I believe in a collision with Grischa Prömel. Classic.) Urs Fischer confirmed this morning that Hübne...

Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart Thursday, May 23 20:30 CEST, 2:30 p.m. EDT Referee:  Bastian Dankert All-Time in All Competitions:  1 Stuttgart win, 1 draw Union Berlin's Form:  D-D-W-L-W-D Union Berlin's 2. Bundesliga Position:  3rd, 57 points, +23 GD Stuttgart's Form:  L-L-W-L-W-D Stuttgart's 1. Bundesliga Position:  16th, 28 points, -38 GD We're living in a world where the same team has won the title in consecutive years in each of Europe's top five leagues. With the same teams consistently at the top, it almost makes you forget what this sport is really all about. As the game becomes increasingly commercialized, it's increasingly difficult for fans, especially those abroad, to focus on the aspects that make sport such an integral part of human culture. Because above all, while it may be a results-driven business, the fan atmosphere is one driven by community. So, as 1. FC Union Berlin face potential promotion to the Bundesliga f...

Stadion An der Alten Försterei, Berlin Saturday, December 1 7:00 a.m. EST, 13:00 CEST Referee: Marco Fritz This Match, Last Year: Union Berlin 3 - 3 Darmstadt All-Time in All Competitions: 0 Union Berlin wins, 2 Darmstadt wins, 2 draws Union Berlin's League Form: D-D-D-D-W-D Union Berlin's League Position: 3rd, 24 points, +11 GD Darmstadt's League Form: L-D-W-W-L-L Darmstadt's League Position: 12th, 17 points, -4 GD The calendar turns to December tomorrow and Union Berlin still sit with a nice looking 0 in the loss column for this season. They've picked up some critical points on the road against the promotion favorites sitting in the two slots in the table ahead of them, including a big come-from-behind 2-2 draw at Hamburg this past Monday night. Make no mistake, this team's fighting spirit proves that they are never out of a match; they've shown that in Cologne and Hamburg and Dortmund as well. But it's in Köpenick where ...

Volksparkstadion, Hamburg Monday, November 26 2:30 p.m. EST, 20:30 CEST Referee:  Frank Willenborg All-Time in All Competitions:  First competitive meeting Union Berlin's League Form:  W-D-D-D-D-W Union Berlin's League Position:  3rd, 23 points, +11 GD Hamburg's League Form:  D-W-D-W-W-W Hamburg's League Position: 1st, 27 points, +3 GD The win over Fürth was the first time Union scored in the first 10 minutes since beating Sandhausen in February. Thanks to the international break, it feels like it's been forever since Union's 4-0 win over Greuther Fürth left us all feeling a little more comfortable about the state of the team. If that had been yet another draw, I'm not certain how we all would have felt going into a match like this one. On Monday night, Union make the trip north to face top of the table Hamburg in what is probably their biggest league test since the early season trip to Köln. This is one of those measuring stick so...

Stadion An der Alten Försterei, Berlin Sunday, November 11 7:30 a.m. EDT, 13:30 CST Referee: Daniel Schlager This Match, Last Year: Union 3 - 1 Fürth All-Time in All Competitions:  4 Union wins, 10 Fürth wins, 9 draws Union Berlin's League Form: W-W-D-D-D-D Union Berlin's League Place: 4th place, 20 points, +7 GD Greuther Fürth's League Form: D-W-D-W-L-D Greuther Fürth's League Place: 5th place, 20 points, +4 GD Note: League places are as of the start of this weekend's fixtures. I've mentioned repeatedly (that is, when I've been doing previews at all...) that you've got to win your home games. So, here we are, Union back at Alte Försterei sitting on four consecutive draws in the league (with a cup tie that also ended level after 90 minutes thrown in there for good measure.) They've scored twice in those four games. They haven't won since October 1. Yet they still entered the weekend in fourth place, thanks to the fact ...