European Cup on RTL and on RTL +: The very special trip from Union Berlin

Thursday, November 25, 2021

European Cup on RTL and on RTL +
The very special trip from Union Berlin

In the evening, Union Berlin will have one of two finals in the European Conference League. In terms of club history, the game at Maccabi Haifa is independent of the outcome. In a special place, the Bundesliga team’s delegation collects special impressions that nobody will forget.

1. FC Union Berlin is under pressure to succeed in the Conference League. The Köpenickers have to score today at Maccabi Haifa (6.45 p.m. / RTL +) to keep the chance of reaching the knockout round. In the first leg against the Israeli champions, the current bottom of the table in Group E took the only points so far in a 3-0 win at the Olympic Stadium.

The starting position is complicated for the Bundesliga club, but at the same time very clear: Union is bottom of the table in Group E with three points. With two wins in the final games in Haifa and against Slavia Prague in the Olympic Stadium on December 9th, the team of coach Urs Fischer would still reach the knockout round. A draw in the Mediterranean could also be enough for the final course against the Czech champions. But Prague must not win in the simultaneous duel at Feyenoord Rotterdam.

A big game, not just in terms of sport

Regardless of what happens in terms of sport, a club-historical record has already been set: around 600 Union supporters have made their way to Israel. For Berliners it is the most distant competitive game since the fall of the Berlin Wall that Union has to contest. 2794 kilometers as the crow flies lie between Berlin and Haifa. The previously furthest distance was Helsinki at 1104 kilometers as the crow flies, where Union laid the foundation for the group stage with a 4-0 win over Kuopio. 20 years ago, the trip to the Bulgarian Lovech meant the furthest distance to a venue at 1,340 kilometers as the crow flies.

But the game is also important for a bigger reason: together with a representative from the Israeli embassy in Berlin, a delegation from 1. FC Union Berlin visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. “It was a deep need for us to use our official trip to Israel to visit this special place and I am very grateful that we could be here,” said club president Dirk Zingler in a statement.

There was a scandal in the first leg because viewers had become anti-Semitic and seditious. The club subsequently excluded at least one member from the club, and several spectators were investigated. “There is no tolerance whatsoever for discrimination at 1. FC Union Berlin. We have therefore taken all measures available to us to remove this person from our ranks. We have also forwarded all information available to us to the investigating State Criminal Police Office”, was reported Union President Zingler quoted in a statement.

The 57-year-old led the delegation, which also laid a wreath after a guided tour of the memorial. “To be confronted so directly here today with the atrocities of Nazi Germany against the Jews of Europe makes us stunned and sad,” emphasized Zingler. “We take with us impressions that will occupy us for a long time and which none of us will forget.”