It’s a grotesque mishap that happens to Gregor Kobel early in the game. Nobody is near him. The Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper has plenty of time to accept his colleague’s return pass. This is an exception for a Dortmund player on this evening in Berlin. They are constantly put under pressure by the Berliners. But keeper Kobel is alone in the eighth minute as he slips and the ball spins in front of the empty goal as he falls. Basically, Union player Janik Haberer has no chance of turning down the gift. So Berlin is one goal ahead before the game has really started for Dortmund.
It is the prelude to an extraordinary first half in Köpenick, the course of which is exemplary for the current success of the Berliners and the misery of Dortmund. If football were played in the laboratory, the arrangement of the evening could be seen as an ideal experiment: playing toughness against at least potential playfulness, tireless fighting spirit against light-footed combined players – who prevailed?
Not just since this season, the secret of Union Berlin has been the relentless discipline with which Urs Fischer’s team adheres to tactical guidelines, wears down the opponent and attacks quickly when the opportunity arises. Neven Subotic just explained it in an SZ interview. The robust defender who played for Borussia Dortmund for years and added a season to Union before retiring. He described this style of play as easily understood, yet difficult to defend. Before this game, the Dortmunders knew for sure how it could go, and yet they soon seemed perplexed, like clueless artists.
It is said of the Dortmunders that their team does not bring enough of what makes the Union onto the field, namely consistency and determination – and that is how this evening is designed. At first it looks confident how BVB pushes the ball back and forth after the first goal conceded, sometimes short, then long again, as long as it is in their own half. But just five meters ahead, the calm is over. Then someone from the Berlin chain runs up to Dortmund at exactly the right moment, conquers the ball or forces a mistake.
Like in the 21st minute, when young Karim Adeyemi got under pressure on the halfway line and tried to solve the problem elegantly with his heel. The Berliners get the ball, pass it in the middle, where Jordan Siebatcheu puts it down for Haberer with his back to the goal. A sharp low shot, his second goal.
From this moment at the latest, the Dortmunders seem overwhelmed by the presence of the Berliners. What happened in the 43rd minute is exemplary, when Jude Bellingham, who has been so great lately, hits a pass halfway forward, where he cannot reach any of his teammates. It feels like the game is over at that moment.
Dortmund coach Edin Terzic must not see it that way, three offensive players are brought on halfway through, and Marco Reus also comes into play. Dortmund is now getting closer to the goal of the Berliners, but initially Union has more chances with counterattacks, which it does not finish cleverly.
It is part of every Union game that the consistency with which Berliners put pressure on their opponents takes a lot of strength. So Dortmund still has a few chances in the end. Reus and Youssoufa Moukoko fail because of goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow. Five minutes before the end, the Berlin supporters sing that only their club will become German champions – fan chants stop, but now the Berliners are still leaders, and anyone who wants to understand that has had the reasons demonstrated in this laboratory experiment accompanied by a frenetically celebrating audience .