Union Berlin – SC Freiburg 4: 2: Iron shortly before dream goal Champions League

Union Berlin’s high-flyers are within reach of their dream goal of the Champions League thanks to “superhero” Sheraldo Becker. Coach Urs Fischer’s surprise team celebrated an incredibly important 4-2 (3-0) win against SC Freiburg on Saturday and decisively distanced their direct competitor. With two games to go, the Köpenickers are three points ahead of SC, who are fifth in the Europa League.

Kevin Behrens (5th) gave the Unioners the lead before Becker (35th/38th) scored twice – and put on a “Spider Man” mask to celebrate the goal. Aissa Laidouni (80th) made everything clear after Manuel Gulde (56th) and Vincenzo Grifo (70th, penalty kick) had meanwhile reduced the lead for Freiburg.

While the Unioner had already secured their third European Cup ticket in the fourth Bundesliga year before the game, the dream of the “top four” – and thus the first Champions League participation – is taking on more and more concrete forms.

After the 22nd league home game without defeat, Union (59 points) initially climbed to third place in the table, which RB Leipzig (57) can regain on Sunday (5:30 p.m. / DAZN) against Werder Bremen. Before the game, Fischer, whose team had lost 1-0 at FC Augsburg the previous week, dared to use the reserve a bit in terms of the premier class.

“I also had to read this week that we actually have nothing to lose, only to win. If you’re in the top four for 29 games out of 31, I don’t know if that’s really true,” said the Swiss, whose team was hungry for Europe.

Union Berlin freezing in front of the goal

After a hard-fought first few minutes, in which the two chains of five stood solidly, the typical Union recipe took hold remarkably quickly. Behrens headed a long ball from the Berlin half to Becker, who crossed it again to his strike partner – Behrens executed an ice-cold shot with his left. The forester exploded for the first time, “FC Union International” sang the fans.

As a result, Union remained toxic and benefited from Freiburg ball losses. Although the SC tried to control the game, little went together offensively in the first round. A header from Lukas Kübler (28′) after a corner, which Union goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow steered over the goal, was Freiburg’s first reasonable chance. But then Union really turned on. First the strong Becker pushed in after a one-two with Robin Knoche and celebrated in superhero fashion before he scored from afar just three minutes later.

After the break, Freiburg increased and ran while the fans on the Unioner trailer were already dreaming. “What a shit – Champions League”, it echoed from the forest side, but the team of guest coach Christian Streich made the game exciting again.

Central defender Gulde humorlessly headed in a Grifo corner, the Italian international later converted a cheeky chipball from a penalty after Danilho Doekhi had fouled Roland Sallai. After a counterattack, Berlin struck again – Becker collected his fourth scorer point of the day as a preparer.

Union Berlin – SC Freiburg: The voices of the game

Urs Fischer (Coach Union Berlin): “That was a great first half for us. We had access and were compact. We didn’t let anything go and took what the opponent offered us. Then you were 3-0 up at half-time. Freiburg did that in the second half well done, we let ourselves be pushed in at the back. It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride. The 4-2 came at absolutely the right time. Otherwise the game could have tipped over. Today we qualified for the group stage of the Europa League for the second time. It was amazing. It’s surreal.”

Christian Streich (Coach SC Freiburg): “I made mistakes. I set up Lukas Kübler, who was sick that week. We had a few who were ailing. I thought it was okay and nothing was okay. He (Kübler/d. Red.) got circulatory problems after 25 minutes. We are very disappointed because we lost another game where there was a lot at stake. We have to deal with it now. We have the next game on Friday.”

Union Berlin – SC Freiburg: The data for the game

Union Berlin: Rönnow – Doekhi, Knoche, Leite – Trimmel, Khedira, Roussillon (86 Gießelmann) – Schäfer (62 Thorsby), Haberer (71 Laidouni) – Behrens (62 Jordan), Becker (86 Leweling). – Coach: Fisherman

Freiburg: Flekken – Kübler (32 Sallai), Ginter, Gulde – Sildillia (53 Schmidt), Keitel (53 Gregoritsch), Höfler, Günter (46 Weißhaupt) – Doan, Grifo (82 Jeong) – Höler. – Coach: Prank

Referee: Marco Fritz (basket)

Gates: 1: 0 Behrens (5th), 2: 0 Becker (35th), 3: 0 Becker (38th), 1: 3 Gulde (56th), 3: 2 Grifo (70th, penalty kick), 4: 2 Laidouni (80th)

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