Union Berlin's rebellion against the Bundesliga giants continues impressively. Against BVB, the front runner celebrates a double rebellion with grazing greed. Mats Hummels hits the table because a teammate "snips" too much and thinks about "social media" too often.
It is well known that kings in the Middle Ages did not drift calmly and tired of old age into the afterlife in bed, but died in a cruel way, in captivity, or under unclear circumstances. Even then, some contemporaries were of the opinion that it was more or less a good custom to kill the kings at some point. The Bundesliga has now left the Middle Ages far behind and fortunately football is not a matter of life and death (although Liverpool legend Bill Shankly of course saw it differently). Nevertheless, what Union Berlin is bringing onto the pitch this season is nothing more than a violent rebellion. In more ways than one. On Sunday evening it is the aristocrats of Borussia Dortmund, who are used to success, who have to admit defeat to the new superiority in the kingdom.
For many, yawning, boring years, the ruler of the Bundesliga has been FC Bayern and the heir to the throne BVB. Actually. With the 2-0 victory over the Revierklub, the Unioners have been at the top of football in Germany for four games since the 6th matchday at the beginning of September. League lead and 23 points from ten games, despite the double burden of the Europa League. Despite a much smaller budget, despite a much shorter Bundesliga affiliation. This is more than a snapshot. This is an uprising against the establishment, an attack on the tradition of domination in Bavaria and Dortmund. A rebellion of the iron knights from Köpenick.
With his black winter hat pulled low over his face, Mats Hummels takes a deep breath in the catacombs of the old forester's lodge and then answers the journalists' questions. "We're missing one or two wins in the Bundesliga," he says. "It doesn't feel that good right now because we're not winning a lot of games. But it doesn't feel as bad as the stats say either." One of his defensive colleagues is already clearer: "We knew what to expect," explains the crippled Niklas Süle. "We have to be able to create more opportunities with our quality." You now have to "analyze toughly", because BVB would "praise week after week for our potential. But then we also have to play with more conviction."
What happened? What happens at almost every FC Union home game. The opponent is defeated with seemingly simple means on the - excuse the martial representation - medieval battlefield called soccer field. In the Berlin fortress called Alte Försterei. The stronghold of the iron with almost unclimbable defensive walls and gates that can hardly be pushed open. Although BVB tries to conquer, their efforts are shattered against the meter-thick stone wall, also known as the impressive defensive work of the Köpenicker. In the moat, the Dortmunders may have found a number of skeletons of other adventurers who had previously tried their hand at the new Bundesliga monster.
Union, who had two days less break than Dortmund after the European Cup, put a lot of pressure on this Sunday evening from the start, hit every duel and are close and aggressive to the man. It was almost logical to make it 1-0 immediately after seven minutes, even though goalkeeper Gregor Kobel slipped up and made a mega-blunder, after which Janik Haberer only had to push in. After that, the Irons pull back - that's all planned - leave the ball to BVB and form their bulwark at the back. The Dortmund find neither a game idea nor a gap. A half-hearted free-kick from Jude Bellingham, which flies over the center of the goal, is the only half-chance (17'). At that point, Union had fired significantly more shots on goal (7:2) and won 60 percent of the duels, while BVB, with 72 percent possession, didn't know what to do.
"It has to get out of some heads that successful football is always sexy and heel, tip, one, two, three over five meters," Hummels mocked after the 1-1 draw in the Champions League during the week against Sevilla. That also fits this evening, because the simple game of the Unioner is the successful one. BVB lacks body language completely, he acts without speed and dynamism, jittery with the ball and inattentive when switching defensively - that's exactly how you're allowed, it's no longer a secret in the Bundesliga and word should have gotten around among the black and yellow, don't play against Union.
Adeyemi may not have listened to his captain's criticism on Tuesday. Against Union, after the Kobel dropout, he made the next mistake with a hoe of all things: The winger’s bad pass initiated a counterattack by the Köpenickers, which Jordan Siebatcheu cleverly put down on Haberer, who scored his second goal (21st). After the game, when asked if he understood the hacking criticism, Adeyemi replied: "Nope, I wouldn't say." However, he also admits: "We didn't start the game well. We have to learn from it and do better."
And Hummels follows suit. You've "caught the 0:2 BVB way," he complains. It is "very important to know in which situations and areas risk is appropriate and when and where not". And even if Adeyemi is not standing next to him in the mixed zone at this moment, he will still have heard Hummel's next words: "Assessing when to 'snick' and when not to 'snick' is a task that we have been doing since over three years. Sometimes the back pass is the best solution, even if it's not on social media."
Hummels had previously called for "adult football" from his colleagues several times. Against the Iron, his team only shows a kind of "children's football". On the other hand, Union once again presents this defensive addiction (own creation of the ntv.de word creator Stephan Uersfeld), which has made the club so strong for months. The Köpenicker are addicted to aggressive, intensive and annoying editing of the opponent. After fields. Running after the ball (against Dortmund they run almost twelve kilometers more) and always somehow hitting a part of the body in between. After that, holding the fortress - as if it were somehow a matter of life and death. Addicted to duels.
BVB cannot cope at all with the aggressive, physical game of the Irons, their impressive greed for straddling. Meanwhile, the home fans among the 22,012 people in the sold-out round applauded every tackle, every defensive action, every ball won by their team.
It lasted until the 37th minute, then Youssoufa Moukoko made the first real shot on goal, where Frederik Rönnow had to intervene - but easily caught the ball. BVB coach Edin Terzić is so dissatisfied with his team that he changes twice at half-time. His team then started more committed, especially Marco Reus with his comeback after the ankle injury brought directness, energy and duel toughness, but the penetrating power is still completely missing. It lasts up to 75 minutes, then Rönnow keeps his second ball in play. He easily defused a shot from Bellingham.
Reus' action became more dangerous two minutes later, but the Union keeper stayed for a long time and cleared his upper body against the rushing returnee. In the 83rd minute, BVB actually had a great chance, the first in the entire game. But Rönnow dives into the lower left corner with the presence of mind and saves Moukoko's low shot. Hummels then complained because Robin Knoche pinned him to the ground. But Dortmund falls too late and theatrically and referee Tobias Stieler does not call a penalty. Shortly thereafter, the defender misses a chance to head the ball and hits a post behind the goal in a sour mood. That's it.
Too few powerful troops at the front, too few fortifications and castle walls that are too vulnerable at the back: Such a BVB is not aspiring for the title and will not be able to stop the rebellion of the Unioners in the league kingdom. They are now seven points behind the top of the table. In this season, in which you had bought a lot from the Revierklub and for that expensively and in which Bayern Munich is exceptionally weak here and there, the black and yellow are again stuck. Terzić's team acted unimaginatively in Berlin for a long time, as if no match plan had been drawn up before the game, as if all game ideas had stayed at home.
The "game intelligence" demanded by Hummels after the Seville draw is only shown by clever Union players. They are bursting with self-confidence this season - especially in the local Alte Försterei. Coach Urs Fischer's men always play wide awake, combative, grippy and determined - and minimalistic. 23 percent ball possession is enough against BVB. In general, the team is one of the worst in the Bundesliga in terms of ball touches in the opposing penalty area and sprints.
In times of ball dominance and fast power and combination football à la Bayern Munich, Manchester City or FC Liverpool, Union Berlin seems like a - quite naive - alternative draft. And also in this way like a little revolution against the trend.
But the successful attack on the tradition of dominance in the Bundesliga speaks for itself. The Iron Ones show how simple and yet different football and the paths to success can be. And how addiction to duels and greed for sliding tackles, which BVB lacks, lead to the fewest goals conceded in the league and to the throne. Even if - fortunately - no king is murdered.
