Union Berlin may still be nibbling away at the 1:3 defeat in Rotterdam. There is not much time to reflect. The aim is to score at VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.
The press conference of 1. FC Union Berlin before the away match at VfB Stuttgart took place in exile and only virtually. On Friday, the squad had flown on directly from Rotterdam to Stuttgart. This was to minimise the travel burden between the two away games in the group phase of the Europa Conference League at Feyenoord Rotterdam (1:3) on Thursday and in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
This plan seems to have worked. It was the right decision, said Fischer. The defeat at Feyenoord hurt. But Fischer did not seem too disappointed two days after the loss of points in Rotterdam. “You have to allow the team to have a weaker game sometimes. You have to get up again, learn from it and do better in the next game,” Fischer explained. “But we don’t have to make a drama out of it either. We simply did too well for that in the games before.”
Before Rotterdam, the team had won four competitive games in a row. In the Bundesliga, there were two home victories against Arminia Bielefeld (1-0) and VfL Wolfsburg (2-0) as well as a 2-1 triumph at 1. FSV Mainz 05.
Van Drongelen infected after initially unclear findings
Union can almost draw from the full squad for the match in Stuttgart. Only the two defenders Marvin Friedrich and Rick van Drongelen, who were infected with Corona, are not available.
Friedrich had already tested positive on Tuesday. The club informed about van Drongelen’s COVID-19 infection on Saturday. The Dutchman initially had an unclear result in the middle of the week. A further test confirmed the infection. Like Friedrich, van Drongelen was not part of the travelling squad for the games in Rotterdam and Stuttgart.
Union will continue to deal with the incidents in Rotterdam off the pitch in the coming days, irrespective of the sporting events. One day before the match, there had been a Rotterdam hooligan attack on the club delegation sitting in a pub. During the fan march to the De Kuip stadium, several people were injured in clashes with the police.
In addition, hundreds of Berlin fans arrived late for the match because there were lengthy delays for the visiting fans at the entrance. “The first thing to do is to thoroughly process the events of these days with all those involved. Then we want to use the time to prepare for the return match accordingly. There are a lot of different things involved and we expect the host to prepare them professionally,” club spokesman Christian Arbeit had explained. The return match against Feyenoord is already scheduled for 4 November.