For 1. FC Union Berlin, the Europa Conference League match against Maccabi Haifa on Thursday (LIVE! from 9pm on kicker) is the fourth English week of the season. And in the first home game of the group stage of the new competition, Union are desperate to come away victorious.
Urs Fischer said it clearly late on Wednesday afternoon: “If you want to position yourself in the top two places, you need points.” Completely, if – as in Union’s case – the first game was lost (1:3 at Slavia Prague). And so the Ironmen’s ambition against the Israeli champions is to shape the result in such a way that they appear in the table not only by name but also by points. “It would have been a bit more possible in the first game,” says the Union coach, “now we have to try everything to leave the three points in Berlin so that we still have a chance in the final standings.”
However, Fischer knows from watching the video footage of the opponents that a win against the team of his colleague Bakhar Barak (42) will not be a foregone conclusion. Maccabi are a team “that tries to play football”, said Fischer, who look for playful solutions, switch well and also have individual quality.
Chery good for surprises
The Eisernen coach is thinking first and foremost of Dutch attacking player Tjaronn Chery (33), who has “a strong left foot” and is good for surprising actions. Nevertheless, Fischer is certain before the fourth international match of the current season: “We have to get our game on the pitch. That means compactness, good organisation and penetrating power when it comes to the opponent’s penalty area.
Fischer will have to do without Timo Baumgartl and Paul Jaeckel. Baumgartl is missing due to a concussion suffered in the league clash with Bielefeld, while Jaeckel is serving a suspension after receiving a yellow card in the first Conference League match in Prague.
The Behrens Question
Besides that, it is possible that Kevin Behrens will make his starting eleven debut for the Eisernen. After all, the striker, who came from Sandhausen, has done a lot of self-promotion as a wild card in the last few games. Especially against Bielefeld, when he was substituted after 66 minutes, scored the winning goal in the 88th minute and hit the crossbar 60 seconds later. Fischer, however, as usual, does not show his cards.
On the subject of Behrens in the starting line-up, he says only this much: “The possibility exists.” Regardless of whether Behrens starts or not, the Eisernen want their first win and then, as they did after the successful play-off second leg against Kuiopion PS from Finland (0:0 after 4:0 in the first leg), they want to celebrate a red and white party at the Olympiastadion, the home of their city rivals Hertha BSC.
