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Following the international break, the 1. FC Union Berlin will face VfL Wolfsburg in the fourth game of the Bundesliga season on Saturday, 16.09.2023. Kick off at the Volkswagen Arena is at 15:30.
The opponents
Niko Kovač took over as Wolfsburg coach in the summer of 2022, taking VfL to eighth in the table in his debut season, and missing qualification for the Conference League by a hair’s breadth. During the transfer period, however, a number of regular players left the club: Micky van de Ven moved to Tottenham Hotspur, Felix Nmecha signed with Borussia Dortmund and centre-forward Omar Marmoush left on a free transfer to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Kovač and Managing Director Sport Marcel Schäfer, meanwhile, strengthened the squad with right-back Joakim Maehle (Atalanta), right-winger Vaclav Cerny (FC Twente) and Croatian midfielder Lovro Majer (Stade Rennes). Berlin-born Moritz Jenz, who was previously under contract with French first division club FC Lorient, also signed with the Lower Saxons for the new season. In addition, the Portuguese U-21 international Tiago Tomás was signed from VfB Stuttgart.
Centre forward Jonas Wind is currently in excellent form and has already scored four goals this season. He scored his team’s first goal against 1. FC Heidenheim in a 2-0 win, a week later scoring a brace in the 2-1 win against 1. FC Köln. However, the Dane could not prevent the 3-1 away defeat against TSG Hoffenheim on matchday three.
The reunion
With Robin Knoche, Jérôme Roussillon and Paul Jaeckel, three players from the Union squad have a Wolfsburg past. Knoche trained with the VfL youth team and made the leap to the professional team under Felix Magath. Between 2011 and 2020, the defender wore the Wolves’ jersey 183 times in the Bundesliga.
Paul Jaeckel also played in the “Autostadt” in his youth and was promoted from the U-19’s to the second team in 2017. Less than a year later, then coach Bruno Labbadia called him up to the Bundesliga squad for the first time.
For the France born Roussillon, Wolfsburg was his first stop abroad. In the summer of 2018, the left-back moved from Montpellier and established himself as a key player in the following years. He made a total of 128 appearances for VfL, scoring five goals, before leaving for Union in January 2023.
The head to head
Union and Wolfsburg have met nine times in competitive matches, with the balance even at three wins each. Last season in Wolfsburg they played out a 1-1 draw.
Personnel
András Schäfer, Rani Khedira and Lauren Dehl are not available on Saturday. Kevin Volland is suspended after his red card in the match against RasenBallsport Leipzig.
The coaches’ views ahead of the match
“Wolfsburg are a team that have started the season well,” said Union head coach Urs Fischer during his press conference on Thursday afternoon. “They have a lot of quality going forwards and dare to find playful solutions. With Jonas Wind, they also have a striker who knows where the goal is and who feels very comfortable in the penalty area.” He also took time to look back on a further week’s training. “We tried to make good use of the international break. With our internationals, we had a smaller training group, but it was still very intense. We also filled in with players from the U19s, who did very well. It was a case of accepting the situation as it was and making the best of it.”
“It’s always difficult against Union,” said Kovac, meanwhile. “They are a team that is very robust and difficult to play against. Our task will be to eliminate their strengths – that won’t be easy – and play to our qualities.”
Service info
Around 3,600 Union fans will be there to support their team in Wolfsburg, and tickets for the guest block are no longer available. Fan merchandise can be purchased on site at the Fahr-Zeughaus. Some information on visiting the stadium in Wolfsburg can be found here (German). The match will be broadcast live on Sky, and there will also be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and 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
