The celebrations with the fans had just ended. People had laughed, applauded and danced in front of the grandstand on the forest side. The blissful supporters of Union Berlin then loudly sent the players a clear order for the title fight in the Bundesliga. “Take off the Bavarians’ lederhosen!” It echoed through the stadium at the Alte Försterei.
The biggest European heroic piece of the Iron was just a few minutes ago. Ajax Amsterdam, a dazzling name in continental football, had joined the list of the many opponents who had felt the special magic of the Köpenick football cult site quite unpleasantly and relentlessly in the 3-1 victory for Unions.
The Dutch had not lost an essential piece of clothing. Lederhosen are not very common in the city of canals. However: The right to play in the round of 16 in the Europa League was gone for Ajax. In contrast to 1. FC Union. His coach Urs Fischer was still looking for words shortly before midnight. “The madness continues, really mad,” the successful coach began his remarks on a football evening that oscillated between absurdity and fulfilled worker myth.
Score difficult to explain
“Today we were extremely lucky, you have to say that,” admitted Fischer, summing up the first half, after the Union suddenly led 2-0 without a real chance to score despite great Ajax finesse thanks to goals from Robin Knoche (20th minute/ Hand penalty) and Josip Juranovic (44th). In terms of football tactics, this score was difficult to explain.
“How the team shows willingness, will, how they try to be courageous, even if they have to suffer,” Fischer described the second half, in which former Ajax junior Danilho Doekhi (50th) conceded a goal from Mohammed Kudus ( 47.) quickly added and the team with enormous fighting power took the Dutchmen’s joy of playing. “What you experience here is unbelievable. We put our hearts into the pitch and deserved to win here,” said outstanding midfield driver Rani Khedira.
Top game against FC Bayern
After the preliminary international highlight, it’s now off to Bayern. The top game on Sunday (5.30 p.m. / DAZN) in Munich is about the top of the table in the Bundesliga. “I hope as soon as possible,” said Fischer about the need for regeneration. “Tomorrow the attention will be on our next opponent.”
And of course there is also a bit of focus on the draw for the next opponent for the round of 16 of the Europa League on Friday afternoon. The game will be played on March 9th and 16th. Fischer wants to watch the ceremony on TV “if I can find time”.
There are seven possible opponents for the iron. Arsenal FC, Fenerbahce Istanbul, Ferencvaros Budapest and Spanish clubs Betis Sevilla and Real Sociedad San Sebastian would welcome Fischer. The Swiss admitted that he doesn’t really feel like seeing group opponents Royal Union Saint-Gilloise or last year’s rivals Feyenoord Rotterdam again. “Not the two because we’ve already played against them,” he said.
