Without Marvin Friedrich, Union Berlin will take on Feyenoord Rotterdam in the Conference League. But even apart from the central defender’s absence, Urs Fischer is expecting an unpleasant performance in the Netherlands.
Sportingly, things are going well at 1. FC Union Berlin at the moment. Urs Fischer’s team has recently celebrated four consecutive victories in competitive matches, the Eisern are in fifth place in the league and their chances of progressing in Group E of the Europa Conference League are intact.
However, before the third game in this competition, this Thursday’s visit of Feyenoord Rotterdam, the Berliners have to cope with some bad news. Marvin Friedrich, the team’s central defender and vice-captain, tested positive for the corona virus late on Tuesday evening, is in quarantine and will definitely be absent in Rotterdam and probably also on Sunday in the league match at VfB Stuttgart. “We’ll miss him,” says coach Fischer, who at the same time is confident “that the player who will replace him will do a good job.” Timo Baumgartl is the name of the first alternative if Fischer were to stick with a three-man defensive chain.
Respect for Rotterdam
Besides the absence of Friedrich, however, the Eisernen go into the match with the current fifth-placed team in the Dutch Eredivisie with confidence. His players “should enjoy the atmosphere”, said Fischer, referring to the expected crowd of around 45,000 fans at De Kuip, Feyenoord’s home ground.
The Union coach has a great deal of respect for the footballing quality of the opponents. The team of his colleague Arne Slot (43) is “well organised and very compact” and always finds “a good mixture between playful solutions and the long ball”, says Fischer, “their greatest strength is to provoke ball conquests from their compactness. And then they do it really well, especially in the transition game. “
“Feyenoord will make our lives hell. “
URS FISCHER
This must be on his team’s mind, “we need an answer to that,” the coach continued. The Swiss lives in the knowledge that his team will have to play to the limit in Rotterdam. “We need a very good performance to take something with us,” he says, who, however, also looks forward to the guest game with confidence given the recent successes of the Eisern. “We’re taking the momentum from the last few games with us,” says Fischer, “which gives us a certain amount of confidence.”
However, the 55-year-old continues, “the game starts from zero again. And I am sure: Feyenoord with their spectators will make life hell for us.” In Rotterdam, therefore, the Ironmen will need to show some resilience.
