Union Lose 3-2 to Braga

1. FC Union suffered another cruel blow to their first ever Champions League season when, just as in Madrid, they conceded a goal in time added on, when Andre Castro shot from outside the box to make it 3-2 for the guests. Union had played superbly, particularly in the first half when Sheraldo Becker lit up the Olympiastadion with two superbly taken goals. But they were cancelled with strikes from Sikou Niakate and Bruma.

1. FC Union Berlin: Rönnow – Juranović, Doekhi, Bonucci, Leite, Gosens (86. Roussillon) – Tousart (63. Laïdouni), Král, Haberer (81. Aaronson) – Behrens (63. Volland), Becker

Sporting Braga: Matheus – Mendes (87. Castro), Saatci, Niakaté, Borja (73. Moutinho) – Zalazar (73. Marín), Ricardo Horta (83. Ruiz), Al-Musrati – Bruma, Banza, Alvaro Djaló (83. Carvalho)

Goals: 1:0 Becker (30.), 2:0 Becker (37.), 2:1 Niakaté (41.), 2:2 Bruma (51.), 2: 3 (André Castro (90.+4)

Attendance: 73.445

The team

Urs Fischer’s back five held few surprises. Frederik Rönnow between the posts, behind a three of Diogo Leite, Leonardo Bonucci and Danilho Doekhi. The flying wingbacks were Robin Gosens on the left, and Josip Juranovic on the right.

Ahead of them Fischer had abandoned the double pivot of Saturday’s loss at home to Heidenheim, preferring to play Alex Kral on his own in the middle, with Lucas Tousart and Janik Haberer either side. They were led by the reassuringly familiar front two of Sheraldo Becker and Kevin Behrens.

Becker breaks his duck. Then doubles it. Braga pull one back through Niakate

The stadium was bathed in red; as was the running track, graced by everyone from Jesse Owens to Usain Bolt, and a wind whipped around the Olympiastadion as Union’s players stepped out to a sell-out crowd, a biblical storm having broken out not long before kick off. It was the largest home attendance the club had ever had. Robin Gosens mentioned the enormous crowd after the final whistle, having described himself as being “almost lost for words” at the result.

“It’s incredibly sad that we didn’t reward ourselves. We would have liked to give the victory to all the fans who were rooting for Union today,” he said.

They knew Braga, of course, having played them twice last year, but if that first loss in Portugal hurt, they seemed determined to put its memories away from the off. Gosens continued “When you see what we put into the game, the body language and mentality we showed and how we fought our way back into the game after conceding two goals…”

The ball zipped across the huge expanses of turf, the rain pouring down, but after only five minutes Union thought that the inclement conditions had worked in their favour. They broke following Banza’s slip, Becker haring down the right. He crossed towards the back post where there was chaos, the ball bouncing out to Gosens who took a touch, patiently waiting for it to drop onto his left, and finished.

The Unioner went wild but the screens flashed up immediately the disconcerting message that it was to be sent upstairs for a VAR check. The goal they were so sure was, wasn’t. It was chalked off for an offside.

Union pushed hard, particularly through Becker on the right, but Bonucci got an early yellow card for a lunge on Banza, out towards Union’s left hand corner flag. The Italian raged, while the French striker stayed down in the eye of the storm. He limped back into the box to a chorus of whistles. Rodrigo Zalazar whipped the resulting free kick dangerously towards Rönnow’s back post, but the Union keeper punched clear, diving to his right.

Despite Braga’s patience when in control of the ball, there were gaps opening up behind their midfield for Union to exploit. Behrens broke through, jumping on a moment of panic, but he couldn’t get the ball under control as he cut inside under pressure from Serdar Saatci; Haberer’s follow up shot was beaten away.

Leite then drove forward, exchanging passes with Haberer on the left, his cross almost from the byline flying just above Behrens, and was headed out for a corner, taken sharply by Juranovic, short to Becker. He drove over.

Behrens was put through again after 25 minutes, slipping Becker in, but again Matheus was off his line quickly to smother the shot.

Christian Borja tricked on the left, Ali Musrati schemed in the middle, but Union were constantly putting Braga under pressure, the noise from the gegengerade deafening. Bonucci played a dream of a ball over the top to Becker after almost half an hour, weighted perfectly, it floated over their backline, and it wasn’t the first time. Union had spotted a chink in their guests’ armour.

And as such Union’s opener was coming. Juranovic found Kral who found Becker with a beautifully weighted ball into the inside right channel. He looked up to see Behrens coming into the back post, but chose to take on Matheus this time, finishing emphatically through his legs. It was far from the finish of a striker low on confidence. It was magnificent.

The game had exploded into life. Bruma went through but Rönnow stood up tall as he stung a shot low at him. Union then went down the other end, Tousart, having one of his best performances since having left this very stadium for Union, drawing a diving stop from Matheus when he hit across goal. Banza was crowded out by four red clad defenders as he tried to make space for himself in the box with the ball at his feet at the other end.

But Becker would be through after 37 minutes, again finding himself the happy recipient of another of the longest of balls, flicked on by a rising Tousart up the middle. He won the sprint with his marker, leaving him for dead, and finished, this time, with his left. If his first had been a goal of impudence, this one showed a flash of steel as he belted the ball higher this time to the keeper’s right.

But within five minutes the deficit was back down to one. Ricardo Horta shot well from outside the box, Rönnow parried it away, but Sikou Niakate was loitering close enough to roll the ball over the line.

It led to Braga’s best spell of the half as the assistant held up the sign indicating there were three minutes extra to be played. Bruma and Alvaro Djalo tried to trick their way, but the superb Leite was equal to the both of them, finding himself with the former on the ground, between his legs, the ball under them both. Borja hit a free kick into the box, but Bonucci was there to clear. Leite was there again as Djalo shot from the edge of the box.

And Union hung on to the break, the game wild with possibilities.

Braga equalise, then break Union’s hearts

Union had been working on their set-pieces, and the second half started with another variation as Juranovic played one short and back to Becker, who chipped in towards Doekhi in the box. The pair then combined following a throw in on the right.

Kral found Tousart with a superb ball into the channel, but Banza was back to clear the cross for a corner, this one passing the diving Behrens’ forehead by an inch.

But Union hadn’t been the only ones who fancied upsetting things from the dead ball. Braga won a corner, just seven minutes into the half. It was played short, then hit back out to Bruma who shot wonderfully with his right, the ball arcing past Rönnow from 30 yards. It was a superb strike.

Braga now looked the stronger side, Union finding themselves on the back foot. Gosens and Kral combined on the right to relieve the pressure, before Zalazar brought down Behrens cynically on the right, lunging at him after he’d been beaten down the line.

Rönnow saved well from Horta after an hour as Braga kept finding the ball in a way that had eluded them during the first half, and Fischer reacted after an hour, bringing on Kevin Volland for Behrens and Aissa Laidouni for the tiring Tousart. And Union picked up, Gosens winning a free kick 30 yards out, dead centre. Braga had seven men in the wall and one lying behind; Juranovic couldn’t clear them.

The game settled down as Union clawed their way back into things. Zalazar got a yellow after Juranovic had come inside to clear up, and beat him, halfway into Union’s own half. Juranovic winced and Gosens made his displeasure clear to the fourth official.

Union were back in the game, buoyed by the changes, Laidouni’s determination shining through like the red lights installed into the roof of the stadium. After an hour Volland had a great chance after Becker found him from the left, but his first-time shot was jabbed at Matheus, winding him in the process. Laidouni brought a ball down beautifully, slipping Becker through, but this time his shot flashed wide of the near post.

Banza was shepherded Bonucci as he advanced, the defenders wiles, experience and timing, perfect, and another lovely ball from Laidouni saw Becker’s cheekily chipped ball headed clear. Braga looked to break immediately but Becker chased back 40 yards to cover the suddenly empty space. He was everywhere, clearly wanting his hattrick as Gosens came at him down the left, and as Aaronson tried to find him, having just come on for the tireless Haberer with ten minutes to play.

Juranovic crossed from the right and the lunging Aaronson got his head to it, but he just couldn’t get enough direction on it to send the ball goalwards. Kral drove a shot from outside the box that was clawed wide by a sprawling Matheus with two minute of time added on to play.

But the final word would come to Andre Castro, who drove low and hard inside the back post with three minutes of time added on played. Abel Ruiz had found a bit of space, cut around Rousillon, and squared for Bruma who rolled the ball across and on to be finished emphatically.

It felt worse than Jude Bellingham’s winner for Real after the same amount of time, somehow, because this was really against the run of play. Urs Fischer said afterwards that the word “bitter” wasn’t adequate to sum up his feelings, rueing the further missed chances.

But Union would do well to cast their minds back to the loss against this same side at the same stage of the Europa League tie last year. Danilho Doekhi summed it up best when he said, “that we then concede the goal in the last minute is very hard and emblematic of the phase we are currently in. But we will get up again”.

Because he’s right. They came back from that loss to Braga last time, coming second in the group without conceding another goal. Now, they just have to do it again.