Pride mixes with the pain: Union Berlin strikes brutally in a foreign world

With the pain there is pride
Union Berlin strikes brutally in a foreign world

By Tobias Nordmann
September 21, 2023, 7:12 a.m

That was worthy of all honor. Union Berlin defended with a lot of passion in its premier class premiere against the great Real Madrid. A former Dortmund player spoils the big surprise in the premier class. The Iron Ones are still proud and annoyed.

Union Berlin has arrived in a new world – as the 15th German team. But the first contact ends painfully. Things were going very well at Real Madrid well into stoppage time, and the first point in the Champions League awaited. But then the hosts converted their increasing superiority into a victory. Jude Bellingham, the ex-Dortmund player who was again playing excellently, pushed the ball over the line out of the crowd to make it 1-0 in the 94th minute. The Royals celebrate, the Union suffers. Without yield.

What a passionate fight they had offered the superstar ensemble, how they had run, how they had straddled and defended themselves against the force in white. They were not frozen in fear of the giants in white. They weren’t shy, but aggressive, poisonous. They were tactically perfectly set up and implemented the plan almost perfectly, with luck at the post and a strong goalkeeper. They had forgotten what had recently happened to them in the Bundesliga. Two defeats namely. And afterwards they warned themselves that they needed to sharpen their senses again. Just a reminder: Union is only playing its fifth season in the Bundesliga. It is perhaps the fastest rise story in German football and beyond. The Berliners flew past the stages of staying in the league and arriving – like gray geese on their long way to winter camp, they flew further and further, all the way to the premier class.

Fight and resistance, those were the key words

And until shortly before kick-off they still hadn’t understood what they had achieved. That in a few hours they would be playing at the legendary Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. That Tony Britten’s anthem would be played in their honor. Just in time for this historic event, the Iron Men were able to welcome their newly acquired legend onto the pitch for the first time. Leonardo Bonucci was fit and gave confidence to a team that was extremely inexperienced at this level. Fight and resistance, those were the keywords for this evening. And hardly anyone in Europe has stood for it as much as the Italian in the past two decades.

That’s how it went. Real took control of the game, pressing cautiously at first, then becoming more and more angry. Union defended, wanted to free itself. This was sometimes successful, but without any results. There was only one murmur, shortly after the break, national player Robin Gosens hit the ball into the side netting. The Berliners were no closer to a goal that evening. They were and remained a long way from a 1-0, but not 0-0. But a little inattention caused all dreams to collapse. There was still applause from the fans in the stadium. Not everyone was there; some had decided not to visit out of frustration at police harassment.

The Madrilenians had shot at the Union goal 32 times, only four attempts were recorded for the guests. The Royals played 813 passes, the Berliners only 263. The Spaniards had the ball at their feet for over three quarters of the game and won 56 percent of all duels. There are hardly any more numbers of dominance. But all of that was to be expected. Real’s squad is worth almost a billion, Union’s squad is heading for a market value of 200 million euros. Real adorned themselves with 100 million euro sensation Bellingham in the summer. With 13 million euros for national player Gosens, Union transferred more money than ever before to Inter Milan.

Figures of absurd dominance

Big numbers, cute compared to the royals. It was gigantic considering that it was against Arminia Bielefeld six years ago when there was a difficult 1-1 draw on matchday six. Of the heroes of yesteryear, only Christopher Trimmel is still there. Small side note: At that time there was a Kroos on the field, his name was Felix, now primarily a podcaster. Together with his brother Toni. And so back to the now. Back to the Champions League. Kroostoni came late, in the 65th minute. And provided more power, even more dominance. But Union’s resistance remained ironclad. And otherwise there was still goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow, who played a very strong game. He said: “It’s obviously very bitter. It was a very good performance from the whole team. Of course we’re sad, but there’s also a bit of pride.”

But of course they quarreled with the football god, who had meant so well for them. He had been on their side for so long, as he had been in the Bundesliga, and had once again turned the expected goals, this indicator of superiority, on its head at the Bernabeu. In the end, Real Madrid had a value of 3.57 and Union had a value of 0.23. The last decimal places on the Royal side had changed everything. “In the end, football is always fair, but when you are close to taking a point, then it hurts because the team did very well defensively,” lamented coach Urs Fischer. And record newcomer Gosens summed it up. “Today we saw the most beautiful and the ugliest face of football at the same time,” he said: “It’s incredibly brutal when you score a goal so close to the end. In the end it sucks, let’s put it like it is is.”

There are now three defeats in a row. RB Leipzig, VfL Wolfsburg and now Real Madrid. The last time this happened was in the middle of the pandemic. Times were too fast to lose. But with the victories the demands rise. At the weekend they have to get back to everyday life, then Hoffenheim visits Köpenick. A game that will perhaps be the even bigger test. Because it’s about everyday life after the big “shit” at Bernabeu.

The former Bundesliga superstar Bellingham was responsible for the fact that things didn’t go well. His determined run into the penalty area, when the rest were just staring at Fede Valverde’s shot and the Englishman was the only one to move into the dangerous area, had caused the Köpenick team to wake up bitterly from their dream. The 20-year-old penalty area sneaker was later full of praise for the opponent from the German capital.

“Union was brilliant. Their organization was great. I played against Union for three years with Dortmund and it was always very difficult. They continued that today,” said Bellingham on DAZN: “I have great respect for this team and like theirs Coach very much.” He, who was often brought down to earth by the team’s mentality in Dortmund, also praised the will of the Royals. “We were patient. We knew we would have chances until the end,” said the winning goalscorer, who was praised for his perfect timing. “Bellingham brings down the wall at the last minute,” wrote Spain’s Sport newspaper. “It is never too late” for Bellingham, said the “As”. And that’s why he ensured Union’s brutal impact in the new glittering world.