1. FC Union Berlin will finish the 2020/21 Bundesliga season on Saturday against RB Leipzig at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
The Köpenick club will go into the final round of fixtures with the opportunity to secure qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Review
Joel Pohjanpalo’s second-half equaliser at Bayer Leverkusen last Saturday bagged Urs Fischer’s side a point and subsequently setting up a final day battle for European football. Union delivered an excellent first-half performance at the BayArena, creating early opportunities but unable to turn the screw and get the opening goal. Max Kruse forced an early save from Lukas Hradecky before putting the ball in the net in the 20th minute — unfortunately the flag was up for offside. Patrick Schick eventually put Hannes Wolf’s side ahead on 27 minutes and the Werkself would go on themselves to qualify for the UEFA Europa League. Fischer went to his bench early after the break, introducing Taiwo Awoniyi and Joel Pohjanpalo to put pressure on the Leverkusen defence. Sheraldo Becker also marked his return from injury — and the new call-up for the Suriname national team delivered the decisive cross for the equaliser. On 74 minutes, Becker crossed from the right and despite saving Pohjanpalo’s first effort, Hradecky parried straight to his compatriot who bundled home from close range. Union chased the victory, creating opportunities to win the match but also conceding opportunities to lose the game. Excellent defending from Robin Knoche and Nico Schlotterbeck at the death kept Union on track for the point.
Opposition
RB Leipzig have secured qualification for the UEFA Champions League next season after a strong Bundesliga campaign. Julian Nagelsmann, who will leave the club to join Bayern in the summer, has presided over a cup final run and a second-placed finish for Leipzig. With 65 points, his side stayed competitive with Bayern for a long phase of the season but the German champions have been able in recent weeks to pull away and make it nine league titles in successive seasons. With Leipzig’s work done for the campaign, they will head to the Alte Försterei without the services of Angelino, Peter Gulacsi and Dani Olmo.
Personnel
Urs Fischer confirmed the absentees for Saturday’s game against Leipzig. Robert Andrich is suspended after picking up a yellow card in Leverkusen. Anthony Ujah, Leon Dajaku, Florian Hübner, Grischa Prömel and Joel Pohjanpalo will be out of action for this weekend’s game.
Service
Saturday’s game at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei will take place with 2,000 supporters in attendance. These are the up-to-date health and safety regulations for supporters who will be attending the match in Köpenick.