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On Tuesday, 24.10.2023, 1. FC Union Berlin will play their next match in the UEFA Champions League, as Urs Fischer’s team line up against the reigning Serie A champions SSC Napoli as part of Matchday 3 of the group stage. Kick-off at Berlin’s Olympiastadion is at 21:00.
The opponents
The history of Società Calcio Napoli is inextricably linked with the name Diego Armando Maradona. Between 1984 and 1991, the Argentine wore the famous light blue jersey of the southern Italians winning the UEFA Cup, the Italian Cup and two championship with his team. To this day, the former playmaker enjoys legendary status in Naples: his portrait is omnipresent on the walls of the city’s buildings, and SSC’s home stadium has also borne his name since Maradona’s death in November 2020.
After the superstar’s era ended due to a doping ban in 1991, the club plummeted. The 90s were pockmarked by financial problems, internal disputes and a sporting crash. In 1998, Napoli were relegated to Serie B, six years later the club had accumulated 70 million euros of debts and had to file for bankruptcy.
Shortly afterwards, film producer Arelio De Laurentiis took over as president. Under his leadership, the club were restructured both on and off the pitch and returned to Serie A in 2007. Over the last decade or so, the Neapolitans have once again been among the best teams in Italy and have regularly appeared in European competition. Last season they achieved the greatest success in their recent history, with a 16-point lead over second-placed SS Lazio, Napoli won the title again after a wait of 33 years.
After this success, championship coach Luciano Spalleti resigned from his post and was replaced by Frenchman Rudi Garcia. However, attacker Victor Osimhen, who played a major role in the title win with 26 goals, stayed. The Nigerian has already scored six times this season but is currently suffering from a thigh injury and will be absent against Union.
Their goal in the Champions League is nevertheless clear, to reach the last 16. On the first matchday, Garcia’s side managed a last-minute, 2-1 away win at Sporting Braga, before losing 3-2 at home away at Real Madrid a fortnight later. In the domestic league, they lie fifth in the table after nine games and celebrated a 3-1 away win at Hellas Verona last Saturday.
The Personnel
Jérôme Roussillon and Josip Juranović are unavailable on Tuesday due to injury.
The coaches’ views ahead of the match
“Napoli will be a very demanding task for us,” said Union’s head coach, Urs Fischer, in his press conference on Monday afternoon. “With Kvaratskhelia and Politano, they have two players who have great speed and are always looking for one on ones. They also have a metronome in central midfield in Lobotka. For us, it will be about being compact as a team, defending collectively, stressing the opponent again and again and consistently sticking to our basics for the whole game. We will approach this task with confidence and a positive attitude and will do everything we can to get back on track.”
His counterpart, Rudi garcia, meanwhile had this to say. “Union had a very good season last year and more than deserved the Champions League. We have looked at their recent games, because Union can always be dangerous. We mustn’t be fooled by their current streak. Of course, they have a lot of interesting players, and besides Leo Bonucci, I’m also looking forward to seeing Lucas Tousart.”
Service info
The Olympiastadion opens its gates at 18:30 pm. There will be over 68,000 Union fans there to support their team, so it is strongly advised to arrive early to avoid long queues at the entrances. All information on visiting the stadium can be found here.
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 on the match via the club’s own live ticker, as well as in English and Spanish on Twitter.
