The players of 1. FC Union Berlin have barely had time to take breath. Following their superb Bundesliga win over Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday, Nenad Bjelica’s side now face a huge test as they face Real Madrid in the final game of the Champions League group stage. Kick off in the Olympiastadion is at 21:00
The lie of the land
Thanks to the 1-1 draws in Naples and Braga, Union have kept their chances alive of finishing third in the group, and with it remaining in European competition, into the new year. However, it won’t be easy against the 14 time European Champions. Union need to win, and hope that Sporting Braga lose in Naples. For Union head coach Nenad Bjelica, however, this is no reason to be negative. Even before his debut on the Union bench in Braga, the Croatian was combative and upbeat about his team’s chances: “We want to spend the winter in Europe. It’s about maximum commitment and maximum will. I hope we have a final against Madrid.”
The opponents
Madrid are, inevitably, once again among the top teams in the Spanish league this season. Having played 16 matches, Carlo Ancelotti’s team are second in the table with 39 points and can boast of the the second most dangerous attack with 34 goals scored. They have been transformed by the arrival of English international prodigy, Jude Bellingham, from Borussia Dortmund in the summer the most prolific attacker in La Liga with 12 goals. The 20-year-old has also proved his scoring prowess in the Champions League, where he rescued his side with his last-minute goal in the 1-0 win over Union, and has added a further three to that over the course of the group stage that he has lit up.
With five wins in five games, Madrid are the clear leaders in Group C. This success is no coincidence, as a glance at the statistics reveals. Their passing accuracy of 92% is the second best of all Champions League participants (after Manchester City) and they have scored a goal on average every 29 minutes on average.
In the 4-2 victory against SSC Napoli a fortnight ago a certain Théo Zidane also celebrated his debut in the professional squad of “Los Blancos”. Only a week later the son of French legend Zinédine was also on the team-sheet in the league match against FC Granada. In both games, however, the midfielder, who won the UEFA Youth League with Real in the 2019/20 season, has yet to make it off the bench.
Personnel
Danilho Doekhi will not be available on Tuesday evening due to injury while Lucas Tousart and Leonardo Bonucci are also suspended.
The coaches’ views ahead of the game
“We’re all looking forward to playing against an opponent like Real,” said a confident Union head coach, Nenad Bjelica, during his press conference on Monday afternoon. “Everyone knows what they mean in world football and what quality they have. We’ll have to play a perfect game tomorrow to get a positive result – but that was the case against Gladbach. I’m convinced that if we repeat our performance from Saturday and play with confidence, we have a chance of winning tomorrow evening.”
Meanwhile, his opposite number, Carlo Ancelotti, was in bullish, yet magnanimous form, himself. “Real Madrid are always favourites in this competition because of their history. Our aim was to finish top of the group. We’ve already done that and now we want to finish the group stage successfully, put in our best performance and show a good game. We have to respect Union because they will be desperate to win their last group game. I expect a balanced and attractive match.”
Service information
The Olympiastadion opens its gates at 18:30. Around 70,000 Union fans will be there to support their team, and all should arrive early to avoid long queues at the gates. All information about 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 live updates on the match via the club’s own live ticker, as well as in English and Spanish on Twitter.