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On Saturday, 3 August, the men’s team of 1. FC Union Berlin will host French first division team Olympique Lyonnais in a friendly as part of the official season’s opening. Kick off at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei is at 17:00, preceded by the presentation of the complete men’s and women’s first teams. The women will first play against Bundesliga side SV Werder Bremen at 13:00.
The lie of the land
Both Lyon and Union have played three matches already in their pre-seasons. The French side completed part of their preparations in Austria with a 3-2 win against WSG Tirol, having already lost 1-0 to FC St. Pauli and securing a 0-0 draw with FC Torino.
Union, meanwhile, have won two of their three friendlies; 4-0 against BSG Chemie Leipzig and 3-2 against Dynamo Kyiv. Last Saturday, they drew 4-4 with Rangers at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
The opponents
OL only secured their 6th place in the French Ligue 1 on the final matchday of the 2023/24 season, thus securing qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The seven-time champions won all their titles between 2002 and 2008, setting a league record. Lyon’s greatest international successes include reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1963/64 and the Champions League in 2009/10 and 2019/20. In 2007 they became the first club to win both the French men’s and women’s championships in the same year.
The top scorer in the last two seasons was 33-year-old centre-forward Alexandre Lacazette, who scored 46 goals and contributed eleven assists in 64 games. Lacazette is currently captaining the French team at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Personnel
Union head coach Bo Svensson is still without the injured players Alexander Schwolow, Jérôme Roussillon and Kevin Volland.
The reunion
Lyon are the former team of Lucas Tousart, where the Union midfielder played a total of 165 games between 2015 and 2020, and reached the semi-finals of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League.
Service information
The stadium opens at 12:00 on Saturday. The match between Union’s women’s team and the Bundesliga’s SV Werder Bremen will start just one hour later.
Visitors to the season opener are advised to allow extra time for their journey due to public transport restrictions. Further information on the programme for the season-opening double matchday and how to get there can be found here.
Remaining tickets are on sale at all Union Zeughaus stores and online.
If you can’t be there live, you can watch the game via AFTV’s live stream. As usual, Union will also provide updates from both matches via the club’s own live ticker, as well as in English and Spanish on Twitter.
