Union Berlin’s triumphant season continues after their fourth minimalist Europa League win in a row. The Bundesliga leaders fought a 1-0 (1-0) win at Belgian runners-up Royale Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday evening and thus secured entry into the knockout round of the competition. There, the Berliners now have an attractive opponent: FC Barcelona, Juventus Turin or Ajax Amsterdam are among the possible. The draw will take place next Monday.
“We really wanted to win this game in order to progress on our own. We did that. Even if it wasn’t a good game for the 90 minutes, we don’t care,” said defender Robin Knoche, who shortened the success with a blocked shot secured before the end. “We’re looking forward to the next challenge,” he said.
In front of around 6,000 spectators at the Den Dreef stadium in Leuven – including a few Unioners – Sven Michel (6th minute) shot the Irons to victory in his second starting eleven of the season. After a poor start to the Europa League with two defeats, Union won four games in a row – all 1-0.
At the end of the group phase, the Köpenickers under coach Urs Fischer finished second in group D behind the Belgians, who had already won the group, and ahead of Sporting Braga (Portugal).
A lawsuit by the capital against the ban on entering the city of Leuven for Union fans was dismissed before the game. Union had not been allowed to award away tickets for the encounter due to previous failures of parts of the appendix.
Nevertheless, Union fans had traveled on their own initiative. A handful of them made it into the stadium for kick-off. At the start of the second half, another group of around 50 fans could be heard chanting, but they were led out of the stadium again in the 78th minute.
Fischer showed a good touch by bringing Christopher Trimmel and Michel into the starting XI. In the early stages, Captain Trimmel saved a ball from passing in the direction of Sheraldo Becker. Michel put his cross into the goal with a jumped-in shot against the direction of Saint-Gilloise keeper Anthony Moris.
A game developed with many hard duels and few chances to score. The strong Belgians came into play better after around 20 minutes. The Köpenicker defended the attacks mostly confidently, but were lucky that Saint-Gilloise did not act more consistently with a few technical errors.
After the break, Union had to change the goalkeeper: Lennart Grill came on for the injured Frederik Rönnow. The 23-year-old Grill flew past a cross shortly after the restart. Simon Adingra’s shot went wide of the target (51′). After a mistake in the Belgian defense, Becker missed the great opportunity to score the second goal (61st). The Berliners increasingly focused on bringing the result over time. Then Knoche saved in dire need against substitute Victor Boniface.
