In Cologne, Lennart Grill made a successful competitive debut for Union Berlin. In the Europa League, he will most likely have to make way again
Even two days after his first proper outing for 1. FC Union Berlin, goalkeeper Lennart Grill can still take pleasure in his very decent performance in the away game at 1. FC Köln. “On the whole, I’m satisfied, even if not everything was 100 per cent perfect. Because I hadn’t played a competitive match for a long time, it wasn’t that easy,” said Grill.
But in the end, the player on loan from Bayer Leverkusen, who benefited from an injury to regular keeper Frederik Rönnow, kept a clean sheet at the back in his first Bundesliga game for the Eisern. And Grill had also set up the only goal of the day, an own goal by Cologne’s Timo Hübers after a shot by Sheraldo Becker, with a long ball to Jordan Siebatcheu
Praise from head coach Urs Fischer
Grill is happy that he surprisingly got some match practice. Of course you can also gain self-confidence through good training performances. But that helps even more in a match, says Grill. At the beginning, he was still a bit nervous. But that quickly subsided.
As a reward, after the final whistle there were not only words of praise from coach Urs Fischer (“I experienced his performance as really very good.”), but also many text messages on the mobile phone from family members and buddies.
Some of them even sent Grill a screenshot of the standings because Union had managed to top the Bundesliga for the first time ever. “You can enjoy it,” says Grill. But the main thing, he said, was to keep collecting points to reach the 40-point mark.
Now Grill has to make room for Rönnow again
On Thursday Union’s next game is at Sporting Braga in Group D of the Europa League. However, Grill will most likely move back into the second string at the Portuguese runners-up. Rönnow was able to train fully on Tuesday. The ankle injury that forced the Dane to miss Cologne at short notice seems to have been cured.
Grill accepts that and shows himself to be a team player. “You don’t wish anyone to be injured. It is good for Frederik and the team if he is fit. The main focus is on the team,” said Grill.
