A few years ago, Real Madrid fans caused a stir at a derby. “Worthy rival wanted for decent derby,” read a banner on the south stand of the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, which was attended by neighbors Atlético Madrid. Not that an emulation of the then-hilarious disrespect would be advisable – Atlético drew from it a level of motivation that cast doubt on the hegemony of the Spanish capital. But in Berlin there is gradually an objective reason for imitation: More precisely: at 1. FC Union Berlin.
On Saturday, the Köpenickers won 3-1 (1-0) against their neighbors Hertha BSC in the beautifully decorated stadium An der Alten Försterei – and thus won their fourth city duel in a row. Union have now won seven out of 13 derbies, due to the division of the city there have not been that many. “It’s extremely important not to let the mood of doom arise now,” said Hertha coach Sandro Schwarz, who has just started work and has received confirmation of what he suspected: his mission will be difficult.
Because his team fabricated a classic false start. In the previous week, Hertha was eliminated in the cup at the second division team Eintracht Braunschweig, at that time the new Hertha President Kay Bernstein, once Ultra-Vorsinger of the Hertha fans, was in the honorary stand for the first time. Bernstein’s former comrades-in-arms, who by the way knew how to behave, were surprisingly forgiving after the bankruptcy. After the defeat, they gave the team an encouraging round of applause on the pitch. “It was great sport,” praised Schwarz.
“Union is the better team,” sums up Hertha goalkeeper Oliver Christensen
It was also because there was no doubt about the legitimacy of the victory and the superiority of the Union, so the potential for frustration could hardly have been greater. Symbolic of this: Hertha needed an hour before she could look forward to a chance from the game. But by then the game was already over because 1. FC Union had long since made their statement with goals from Jordan Siebatcheu (32′), Sheraldo Becker (52′) and Robin Knoche (54′).
Hertha’s chance came from new striker Wilfried Kanga, who came on just minutes earlier along with Chidera Ejuke and Stevan Jovetic, for the overall and utter disappointment of Davie Selke, Prince Boateng and Myziane Maolida. The 1: 3 by Dodi Lukébakio (85th) was only recorded when the Unioners were thinking about the lap of honor. “Stadtmeister, Stadtmeister, Berlin’s number one,” sang the Unioners, who were able to start a Bundesliga season with a win for the first time since they were promoted in the summer of 2019.
What has happened since that summer of 2019? Union has surpassed Hertha in many crucial matters. Structural and sporty. “Union is the better team,” summed up Hertha goalkeeper Oliver Christensen. This is also due to the constantly amazing renewal of the squad. Like a hydra, Union keep growing new heads. In the current calendar year, Union lost an entire axis, with Andreas Luthe, Max Kruse, Marvin Friedrich, Grischa Prömel and Taiwo Awoniyi leaving the club. No problem. Portugal centre-back Diogo Leite played confidently alongside the experienced Robin Knoche – and then there’s new striker Jordan Siebatcheu. He indicated that he would soon be making his predecessor Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest) forgotten, not only because of his truly wonderful header to make it 1-0, but also because of the odd pass or two.
Union’s new striker Jordan Siebatcheu seems to be well on the way to harmonizing with Sheraldo Becker
Above all, Siebatcheu seems to be well on the way to harmonizing perfectly with Sheraldo Becker – but his goal was prepared by the extremely conspicuous Prömel replacement Janik Haberer; the former Freiburg played a good pass in depth, Hertha’s new central defender Filip Uremovic couldn’t keep up. But not only the new hit; the tried and tested forces still work. The third goal was Knoche’s header from a corner by Captain Trimmel and had only one blemish: the referee ruled offside, but was corrected by the video assistant, meaning that Knoche’s shot was deprived of immediate celebration.
Otherwise there were two surprises in the line-ups of both teams. Dominique Heintz was thrown out of the squad at Union after an extremely manageable performance in the cup victory in Chemnitz (2:1 aet). Dedryck Boyata met the same fate at Hertha BSC. His training performance obviously lacked the right posture.
From that point of view, he would have fit into the team at Hertha. The Unioners “were better in many areas, had more grip and were more bilious,” Schwarz summed up somewhat soberly. The attitude of the Köpenickers was also a result of the fact that there had obviously been an intense debate about the cup game on Monday. Coach Urs Fischer was anything but satisfied after the 2-1 win after extra time. It was completely different on Saturday: “For me, the reaction was almost more important than the win. We demanded it from ourselves and also expected it after the cup. The team showed what they are capable of when they are ready for the task.” , explained the Swiss, whose team narrowly missed the lead several times in an initial phase characterized by storm and urge.
Hertha’s penalty area burned like Grunewald on the other side of town, and the team only occasionally gave the impression of bringing the game under control. The future challenges will not be any smaller: Eintracht Frankfurt will be visiting Berlin next weekend, after which Borussia Dortmund will be waiting. At Union, on the other hand, there was far less nervousness – but words of well-known frugality could be heard. They may have become Europa League participants in the past season, but the view is strictly downwards. “It’s still the same: getting 40 points in this league is a huge challenge,” said President Dirk Zingler. Although 1. FC Union doesn’t look like a team that will have anything to do with the relegation battle – unlike Hertha.