Union travel to Stuttgart

The players of the men’s first team at 1. FC Union Berlin are facing another busy week ahead, beginning on Tuesday, 31 October 2023, as head coach Urs Fischer’s side face VfB Stuttgart in the DFB Pokal. Kick-off at the MHP Arena is at 18:00.

The opponents

VfB Stuttgart have won the DFB Cup three times in their 130-year history, with their last triumph dating back to the 1996/1997 season, when Brazilian star striker Giovane Élber led the Swabians to victory in the final against third tier side Energie Cottbus with two goals. Joachim Löw, who later became the national coach, was on the VfB bench at the time.

Stuttgart breezed through the first round this season, beating Regionalliga Südwest side TSG Balingen 4-0, with goals from Enzo Millot, Silas Katompa Mvumpa and Serhou Guirassy all but deciding the game by half-time. Guirassy continued his impressive form in the weeks that followed, scoring 14 goals in eight Bundesliga matches, including the opener against Union at the Alte Försterei ten days ago. Due to a muscle injury in his left thigh, however, the attacker will not be available for his team on Tuesday.

Nevertheless, VfB are still strong up front in his absence. In addition to midfielder Chris Führich, who has five assists this season, both Silas (four goals and four assists) and Deniz Undav (four and two) have shown their abilities. In the 3-0 Bundesliga win against Union, the latter pair both scored in the closing stages after coming on as substitutes.

The head to head

That 3-0 win was VfB’s first at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Before that, Union had remained unbeaten in eight games against the Swabians. In total, the two teams have met eleven times, with six games ending in a draw, and four wins for Union.

The personnel

András Schäfer, Danilho Doekhi and Josip Juranović are not available on Tuesday evening due to injury. Janik Haberer is ill and will also be unable to play.

The coaches’ views ahead of the match

“We want to bring some fight to the cup and use Union’s virtues – regardless of whether the game lasts 90 or 120 minutes,” said Union’s head coach Urs Fischer during his press conference on Monday afternoon. “It’s important to show solidarity and compactness as a team, not to let ourselves be tempted and to shorten the gaps between us and our opponents. It is important that football should have a good mixture of seriousness and fun. The goal is to show courage in Stuttgart and advance to the next round.”

“Even if it might seem a bit different because of the run they’re on, Union are still a really good team that got into the Champions League last year,” said his opposite number, Sebastian Hoeneß. “There’s no question that they’re now in a negative spiral – but I still see a lot of stability and the right coach at work. For them, it’s now a matter of collecting a sense of achievement at some point, but I hope that doesn’t happen until next weekend.”

Service info

Around 1,300 Union fans will make the long trip to support their team in Stuttgart, and there are no further tickets for the away block available. Fan merchandise can be purchased on site at the mobile-Zeughaus store. Further information on visiting the stadium in Stuttgart can be found here.

The match will be broadcast live on Sky, and there will also be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and at rbb24.de. 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.