On Sunday, 05.05.2024, 1. FC Union Berlin will play VfL Bochum 1848 in their penultimate home game of the Bundesliga season. Kick off in the Stadion An der Alten Försterei is at 15:30.
The lie of the land
Last weekend Bochum secured a 3-2 win against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim at the Ruhrstadion, thanks to a brace from Kevin Stöger and a goal from Felix Passlack. The Ruhr club led 3-0 at one stage before Andrej Kramarić reduced their lead with two goals.
Union, meanwhile, were away at Borussia Mönchengladbach, collecting a hard-earned point against the Foals with a 0-0 draw.
The opponents
Bochum are now playing their third consecutive season in the Bundesliga since promotion in 2020/21, having finished 13th and 14th in the last two seasons respectively. Heiko Butscher’s team, however, are currently in 15th place, level on points with Union, and just one behind on goal difference, on -25. This is mainly due to the number of goals they have already conceded this season; VfL keeper Manuel Riemann has had to pick the ball out of the net 62 times. Only SV Darmstadt 98 have conceded more goals.
Until Hoffenheim on Friday, Bochum had a problem when it came to winning games. Before that their last two victories were the upsets against VfB Stuttgart and FC Bayern München in Matchdays 18 and 22. They were followed by a run of six losses and two draws.
VfL also coach at the beginning of April when Butscher took over from Thomas Letsch. The 43-year-old former central defender, who signed his first professional contract as a player at Castroper Straße in 2005, had already served as interim coach in 2018, 2019 and 2022.
The reunion
Midfielder Janik Haberer played for Bochum in the 2015/16 season, making 33 appearances in the second division and scoring twice. Ex-Union player Keven Schlotterbeck (2019-2020), who is under contract with SC Freiburg, has also been wearing the VfL jersey on loan since January 2023. In addition, Marc Lettau, who was assistant to the director of professional men’s football at Union between May 2018 and December 2022, is now sports director at Bochum.
They are not the only ones for whom this tie has a special meaning, however. Kevin Vogt, was born in nearby Witten, and played in VfL’s youth academy from the summer of 2004 where he progressed through all the age groups, making his Bundesliga debut as a 17-year-old in April 2009. In the following 2009/10 season, Vogt shuttled back and forth between the U19s and Bochum’s second team as a key player, gaining further match practice and experience which would help him a year later in the 2. Bundesliga, when he went on to become an important pillar in then coach Friedhelm Funkel’s team in the second half of the season.
The head to head
The sides have played each other 26 times, with Union winning 13, Bochum nine, and there have been only four draws. The Bundesliga clashes have seen two wins for Union, two for Bochum and one draw. VfL won the last game, in Bochum in December, 3-0.
Personnel
Head coach Nenad Bjelica will be without Jakob Busk due to injury.
The coaches’ views ahead of the game
“They will be a tough nut to crack,” said Bjelica on Sunday’s opponents during his press conference on Thursday afternoon. “Bochum are a team that play very purposefully and their style hasn’t changed under their new coach. We are therefore fully focused and hope, especially with the support of our fans, that the three points stay at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.”
Heiko Butscher, coach of VfL Bochum, meanwhile emphasised before the game, “Union have an excellent team in terms of personnel. We’re not at all interested in whether there’s unrest around the club at the moment. There are ways in which we can win on Sunday, and that’s all that matters to us.”
Service information:
As usual, the Stadion An der Alten Försterei will open two hours before kick-off. The match is sold out in both the home and away sections. More information can be found here (German).
The match will be broadcast live on DAZN and there will also be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and rbb24. As usual, Union will also provide information about the match via the club’s own live ticker, as well as in English and Spanish on Twitter.