Eintracht Braunschweig v 1. FC Union Berlin - Preview

A brief history of Eintracht Braunschweig

Eintracht Braunschweig (or to give the sporting association its full name - Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V.)  have a rich history and were one of the founding members of the Bundesliga in 1963 when they were chosen to be one of the 16 teams out of forty-six applicants, to form the league. Prior to this, they were also founding members in 1900 of the German Football Association. Furthermore, they have the honour of probably being the first place in Germany to host a football match. 

A local school teacher by the name of Konrad Koch had brought football to the town. In autumn 1874 he initiated the first game of football in Germany although Dresden has also laid claim to this accolade with reports of a game in the April of the same year. It was Koch though, who devised the rules of football in 1875 in Germany, after learning of the English game and rules that were invented by the English Football Association in 1863.

Not only do Eintracht have a rich heritage in terms of the footballing side of the game - they actually won the Championship in 1967 - but they also have an interesting past in terms of the commercialisation of football in Germany and bribery and corruption.

In terms of bribery, it was a strange case in 1971, that led to two players being suspended and 10 dismissed from the club. However, rather than being bribed to 'throw' a game the reverse occurred. The players were paid to put extra effort in! 

It was two years later, on 24th March 1973, when Braunschweig faced Schalke 04, that the club took the then controversial step of opting for shirt sponsorship. Most readers will be familiar with the brand Jägermeister. It was a move which spawned a billion pound industry globally and in 1983 the alcohol brand actually tried to change the name of the club to Eintracht Jägermeister. I'm sure there would have been some cheap puns about Eintracht 'bombing' out of the league when they faced relegation. Eventually, the shirt deal came to an end in 1987.

Can you tell this is from the 1970's? Paul Breitner shows off the liquor brand

Eintracht Braunschweig v 1. FC Union Berlin

1. FC Union Berlin face Eintracht Braunschweig on Monday night in lower Saxony. It's the last game before the winter break and the league leaders will provide the Berliners with a tough test, on what will inevitably be, a cold December evening. Snow fell in early December across most of Germany and the temperatures have rarely been above freezing. This is exactly the type of away match I love. It's being played in front of the cameras, so only the hardcore Unioner will be in attendance. Also, by German standards, the two sides are in close proximity, as it's a mere 400km round-trip to Braunschweig from Berlin. 

Whilst Everton football club may be known as the School of Science, Braunschweig can lay claim to being the City of Science, after it was named Stadt der Wissenschaft in 2007. Everton's nickname came about in 1928 when their style of play was described as 'scientific'. Braunschweig certainly looked to have nailed that scientific approach when they visited the Stadion An der Alten Försterei back in August. It was Union's first home game and the soon-to-be league leaders played a strong defensive game and picked off Union with a disputed penalty. It was standard opening day stuff - cagey and deflating after a closed season of cautious optimism. Growing up a Sunderland fan, this is feeling I am well acquainted with. 

Form

Union entered Spieltag (match day) 19 in 5th place in the Bundesliga 2. With Union unbeaten in seven, including three straight wins, confidence should be high. This is surely the ideal time to face Braunschweig again. Terodde has found form and notched 8 goals this term. The service he received from the flanks against Kaiserslautern will be key and Union need to start with Quirring if they are to get the best out of the Union striker's aerial ability. However, the fact that  Union club captain Torsten Mattuschka is missing due to suspension, is a blow.  

Neuhaus has to decide between going 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. Union look best when attacking and are always liable to concede away from home. If he plays Nemec it will certainly be a more aggressive statement of intent. If Silvio starts he is likely to drop very deep, turning what may appear on paper two up front, to a formation with 5 in midfield.  

Union, over the course of the last 5 matches, have marginally better form than Braunschweig. The Berliners have amassed 11 points from a possible 15 whilst the league leaders have notched 10 points in that period. Only Union's 'quiet neighbours', Hertha Berlin, have a better record. They have chalked up 4 wins and a draw in the last 5 attempts. 

I'm an exponent of the 'you can prove anything with stats' line, so I have included the form table, based on the last 6 games and you'll see Union pip Hertha on goals scored according to www.soccerway.com 

The 'Formtabelle' for the Bundesliga 2 over the past 6 matches

The View from Braunschweig

First and foremost, a big thanks to Gerald for being so kind as to humour my poor German and answer a few questions about Union's opponents and league leaders, Braunschweig. 

After being promoted from the third tier Braunschweig managed a very respectable 8th place finish last season. Gerald puts this down to them having a really good team as early as 2008/9. Clearly, Braunschweig have had time to gel as a unit and as Gerald points out, "Das zahlt sich jetzt aus." It sure is paying off now, as we enter Spieltag 19, they sit a whopping 9 points above 3rd place Kaiserslautern. That's a huge lead to squander but Gerald adds that some fans were very pessimistic and feared relegation. Second season syndrome if you like. What a shock for those fans it must be, knowing that irrespective of the result against the Berliners, they'll enter the winter break in an automatic promotion spot.

Gerald cites Dennis Kruppke as his favourite player and a key man to watch on Monday night. Kruppke recently extended his contract with the club and the club captain's goal scoring record is testimony to his influence. He's scored at a ratio  of just over 1 goal in every 3 games played. An astonishing strike rate for an attacking midfielder who has played almost 150 games for the club. 

When asked if Braunschweig really can win the league Gerald points firstly to the manager, Torsten Lieberknecht, who described it as, "ein Traum." A dream it may be, but at the half way stage of the season, Braunschweig are sitting top of the pile. Gerald believes they can win the league. What is football without dreams? 

Thanks again to Gerald and good luck from match day 20 onwards! 

Gerald Fricke, Akademischer Rat an der TU Braunschweig, forscht über die Webgesellschaft und hat zuletzt den satirischen Ratgeber "Dienstanweisung Internet" veröffentlicht. Twitter: @Ballkultur

1.FC Union Berlin 2:0 1.FC Kaiserslautern

Berlin was covered in snow and we all had Glühwein flowing through our system. The atmosphere at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei on Friday night meant we didn't feel the cold. You don't when your team beats a top of the table side 2-0 and starts the second half of the season in such fashion. That's not to say the game was won easily. It wasn't. However football - this season especially for Union - is played on the margins. Tonight, Union had the 'rub of the green' with Union keeper Haas winning the plaudits for a fine display.

Nina Hagen's punk classic was belted out of the speakers a few minutes early. Usually the song, with the Union faithful singing along, greets the players. Today they came out to a capacity crowd chattering. We waved at the players. They waved back. A strange sensation at a ground that contains some of Germany's most passionate fans. The silent protest from fans is a sacrifice. The special atmosphere at Union is part of the appeal. To stay quiet for over 12 minutes was almost too much for some. Union threatened the Kaiserslautern goal early on and a Unioner was 'hushed' by his fellow fans. All in good spirit of course. Shhhhhhhh...

Banners say that after the massive silent protests, it is time for the league to initiate dialogue. The big banner is garnished by a lot of players'/coaches' quotes who express that they would never want football to be as quiet as it has been during those first 12 minutes, 12 seconds

Kaiserslautern had the touch and look of a team brimming with confidence and oozing class. However, as the old saying goes, class is permanent but form is temporary. Tonight they simply were not on form. At half-time it was a wonder Union were one nil up. Their goal coming on 43 minutes after a superb cross from Quirring that arrived on Terodde's head. The Kaiserslautern players walked off the field 2 minutes later clearly dejected. They had created some good chances and should have been going into the dressing room a goal to the good. Their manager clearly failed to lift them at half-time.

Union came out in the second half buoyed by the goal and full of self-belief. They were still making errors and the ball was not always finding its man but the energy and work rate was evident. Subsequently, it was Union who scored again after 66 minutes with Terodde increasing his tally for the season to seven. It was a superb finish as he crashed home the volley from 6 yards. He was clearly level and thus onside, with a team mate (Mattuschka?) in an offside position but not interfering with play. If the first goal had  taken the wind out of Kaiserslautern's sails then the second was an absolute wrecking ball for the dispirited southerners. 

Fan banner: "Do you think, one day there could be silence throughout the entire game?" "Certainly" (play on words in German: Sicherheit = certainty but also security)

There was no coming back from 2-0 down. The stadium was literally bouncing. The backpack beer seller was doing brisk business. We stuck to our Glühwein. The crowd roared Union home and we could still hear the supporters showing their appreciation when we were some distance from the ground. That was the last game before Christmas at home for the Berliners. A week on Monday they travel to current league leaders, Eintracht Braunschweig. The fixture is live on Sky and one UnionBerlinMan will be there. My first away game of the season with Union. There really is nothing quite like a cold Monday night in northern Germany. After this victory, I can't wait!

Many thanks to Felix from Groundhopping etc for the photographs with captions. 

  
Please click here to see the Union and Kaiserslautern fans protesting pre-match and some superb pictures of the game. For further info on the protest click here. 

Hertha BSC v 1. FC Union Berlin - 20:15 Monday 11th February 2013

Updated 23rd November 2012 at 5:30pm with KO date and time

Due to the amount of correspondence I receive about the Berlin derby I decided I'd try and cover some of the main points about tickets for this fixture in a blog piece.


Image courtesy of Offside.com

I want sit/stand in the away end

Unless you're a member or have a season ticket at Union this is going to be difficult. Even with a membership card you only have until Wednesday 14th November at 8pm to travel to the ticket office and you are only eligible for one ticket per person. If you are a member who lives outside Berlin you can e-mail the club. Membership is €80 per season. Details here. You get a free scarf and a few other bits and bobs - chiefly, priority for away games.

Some people on Union forums have decried the fact that the club have not moved with the times and used the internet. Perhaps I am bias but there was something about having the morning off work and standing in the cold for 4 hours. I'm not sure what that something is. The sense of achievement? If you have membership and authorise someone to use the membership card on your behalf then they can buy you a ticket. "Vollmacht" is the German word for this. There was quite a bit of this going on.


Edit: Union have sold their full allocation. Ausverkauft is the German word for this.



When is the fixture?

Sky TV have not chosen their matches for the second half of the season yet. A farcical situation of buying a ticket for a match that could be on one of 4 days across the 2nd weekend in February. Not much help for international fans flying to Berlin for the game I know - unless you fancy coming Friday until Tuesday of course.

Can you buy tickets in the Hertha end yet?

Yes you can. These have been on sale for a while now. The game sold out in 2011 so I see no reason why it won't sell out again. (Edit - less than 5,000 tickets left according to Hertha site)

The official site is here. Block K.1 or Blocks 12 - 14.2 would be a good shout if you're looking to be near the Union faithful. (Edit - no tickets now available near Union fans.)

Is it a poisonous atmosphere like at other derby matches?

Certainly not. A heavy police presence, an alcohol ban in the stadium and away fans herded into the ground like cattle - yes. Bad atmosphere - no. Such points are always subjective of course but I can only go on my own experience. I called Hertha a few days before the game, and was lucky enough to get a ticket for the 2011 derby, as some players had returned their allocation. I was in the expensive seats and a few Union fans jumped up when we scored. Some even wore colours. I would not recommend this but I hope you take my point. This is not Newcastle v Sunderland or Celtic v Rangers. I've not been to a Merseyside derby but it's probably closer to that end of the spectrum than the Manchester derby. As ever, take care.

Traveling with the Union fans to the game

I was fortunate to do this in 2011. The U2 line runs from Alexanderplatz to the Olympiastadion and the journey is very lively. Well worth doing.

Pre-match drinking

Keep an eye on the blog and I'll be covering where and when to have a pre and post-match drink.

Accommodation

Numerous friends have stayed here and been very impressed. A hotel style hostel. Read a few of the reviews.

Where can I party that weekend?

Check out this website from Mogli Oak. They have their finger on the pulse of what is happening each weekend.

I love Berlin and want to move to Berlin!

Do it. For more about Berlin life check out Überlin website, Slow Travel Berlin website and this guide to moving to Berlin which is also hosted by the team behind Überlin. You can ask them anything!

UNVEU


Picture courtesy of Groundhopping etc

Videos from the famous 1-2 win in 2011






Videos courtesy of Groundhopping etc

Union win fans but not points against Paderborn

I met with a superb crowd before the Union v Paderborn game. There were 9 of us in total. One of the gang was Lewis, a student at the local Uni, in Berlin for 1 semester. Being a man of vast intelligence, after only a short time in the capital he tried to extend his stay by another semester. Sadly, it was not to be but he'll be in Berlin until early next year. He's seen Hertha play. Now it was Union. Read his take on Union below.

The Union atmosphere was like one I've never experienced before. Being a massive Aberdeen fan, it takes heart to admit that the home games I'm used to are pretty dull with a sporadic crowd in low voice.



At the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, it was the complete opposite. I've attended the Olympiastadion twice this season, and despite the Ostkurve 'ultras' being extremely vocal and inspiring, the fact the rest of the stadium was half empty put a slight dampener on the whole 'football experience'.



The Alte Försterei was full to the rafters, each and every fan in unison and full voice. It's just a pity the result on the pitch wasn't quite as satisfying... Despite Paderborn having their fair share of chances, Union did too and wasted them all - striker Adam Nemec was ironically cheered off by the home faithful after being substituted in the 2nd half.



The winner seemed a complete freak goal - the players and fans were as surprised as each other as the ball somehow looped over the keeper and into the net. If there is one thing Union can look at Hertha and be jealous of though, then it's a striker like Ramos who can score a goal or two.



Even so, this and the disappointing result aside, I've definitely been converted to the East side. A full terracing capacity of passionate fans in red and white, chanting their team on in between gulping down a pint of fine German beer, it genuinely is as good as it gets... If only it existed in the north-east of Scotland.

Thanks to Lewis & Felix at Groundhopping etc for the photographs.

Union Berlin huff and puff against 10 man Frankfurt

Due to making sure 15 Irish lads got in the ground OK, I took a week off blogging duties and @robinberlin kindly wrote the blog this week. As usual, he's bang on the money.

After an early season wobble Union are now looking resembling a solid resolute outfit. However, their inability to create and take chances in front of goal remains a cause for concern.

In the balmy late October sunshine, Union were lead out by the “King of St Pauli”, Thorsten Mattuschka, whose exploits in their last fixture had rescued a point away in Hamburg.


The new stand is taking shape and building work is ahead of schedule.

The fact that FSV Frankfurt were on the wrong end of a 4-0 shellacking last year was cause for optimism amongst Union fans who were keen to secure a third home win on the bounce.

After an fairly unremarkable opening ten minutes, the game turned on a decision from the referee to award a twelfth minute penalty to Union following a deliberate handball by Frankfurt defender Marc Heitmeier . For this offence he received his second yellow card and FSV were down to ten men.

Mattuschka never looked like missing and he slotted the ball home to score his third goal in two games. Happy days – the sun was out, Union had the extra man and this correspondent was looking forward to an afternoon goal fest.


Mattuschka sends the keeper the wrong way

Nothing quite rolls of the tongue like a classic footballing cliché. Italian defences are always “well very organised”, Brazil always play “samba football” and it is always, always harder to play against ten men.

This is a view I’ve never subscribed to. How can it be harder to play against a team having to compensate for having one fewer man? However, having seen Union struggle for the remaining 80 minutes against 10 men, I’ve decided that for the time being at least, all football clichés much be true.

At times it was impossible to determine which team had the extra man. Frankfurt stubbornly defended the fleeting Union attacks and then looked the more threatening going forward.

Long balls at the heart of the Union defence caused panic and resulted in yellow cards for both Union centre backs Christian Stuff (the poor man’s Per Mertesacker) and Roberto Puncec.

Before the half was out Björn Jopek was taken off. It was an afternoon of mixed emotion for Jopek. The crowd had loudly cheered the news of his contract extension, but in truth he had a bit of a shocker and was “hooked” before the half was out. I can only imagine the signing on fee must have gone to his head.

The second half plodded along and for the most part, Union were uninspired and sloppy. It felt like the international break and the early goal had taken all the sharpness and urgency out of their play.


Protest banner pointing out that Rauball (league President) has a few stains on his CV. The second anti-DFB/DFL banner to be unfurled during the game

Simple passes were being misplaced and FSV still appeared to be the most likely team to score. One ray of quality in an afternoon of mediocrity was shown by Stuff who drilled a swerving 25 yard shot onto the bar.

The game was characterised by one of its last acts. After a swift counter following an FSV attack, Union created a clear chance. Mattuschka was one on one with the keeper. Having dragged the ball on to his less favoured left foot, he shot over from 12 yards out.


Union blaze wide - again.

And that was pretty much that . 2-0 would have flattered Union, and 1-0 was probably unfair to FSV who least laid to rest the ghosts of last year’s drubbing.

Union will have to play better this weekend if they want to beat and leapfrog Paderborn.

Maybe Union should just start with 10 men…


Big thank you to Groundhoppping etc. for the photographs. Do check out the facebook page and click like. Superb Berlin photography of the beautiful game.

Fans, fireworks and full-time

When German official Wolfgang Stark blew the final whistle in the Esprit Stadium last night, it was clearly the the beginning of an inquest that could be far reaching for German football. German football fans in particular - the night was a nadir for pitch invasions and Pyros. Both were ill timed, caused disruption to the ebb and flow of the game and became the talking points. A real shame in a two-legged relegation play-off that ended 4-3 to Fortuna and condemned Hertha to a second relegation in three seasons.

By way of comparison, the first-leg in Berlin had passed with little incident. I was in attendance last week and took a few snaps.

Dark clouds hover over the Olympiastadion, a pre-cursor of what we were to expect from this clash

I was on the back row so a superb view of the action

The Berlin bear flag partially obscured

Fortuna fans with a flare after the second goal much to the mirth of the Hertha faithful

A youth with a t-shirt that he can wear for all of next season as Hertha will again look to bounce back immediately

The tie was finely poised at 2-2 on the night and 4-3 to Fortuna on aggregate, when in the 6th minute of added on time, hundreds of Düsseldorf fans mistakenly thought that Stark had blown for full-time and invaded the pitch to celebrate. The fans had started to leave their seats as early as the 85th minute, forming a cordon of people around the advertising hordings, constantly being watched by police and stewards but not moved on.

The match had such an inordinate amount of injury time, not due to one moron as was the case at Manchester City at the weekend, but several. Hertha fans had launched fireworks on the pitch when they went 2-1 down on the night. Hertha fans clearly thought that the 4-2 aggregate scoreline was unassailable. Moments earlier they had lost their goal scorer and arguably their biggest threat in Ben-Hatira, who was booked for a challenge that you can't get away with in modern football. It was a second yellow but could have easily been a straight red in 2012. Ten years ago, a clever official would have given him a warning and the game would have been all the better for the decision.

Germany is very much the home of 'proper football' in terms of fans though. The matchday experience is envied by the English fans who have a sanitised version of the game. All topics for another day of course but last night will be a stick that the German FA can beat the pro-pyro lobby with. @valedave made a point on Twitter last night that the good work of the pro-pyro lobby has been undone in one night. In one moment. Not a moment of madness but one of spite and ill feeling. Hertha have felt aggrieved all season. A freakish amount of own goals being their latest gripe - one in three goals conceded of late have been own goals. That's football Hertha fans.

When you consider the way Manchester City came back from 2-1 down to score two vital goals to win the Premiership, it was telling that Hertha scored in the 85th minute. Could a side in blue score 2 goals in quick succession? Without all of the added on time this goal would have came at around 78 minutes giving them almost quarter of an hour to salvage their top tier status. Would they have found a goal in this time? Would they have been slightly less drained of emotion and spirit? They had to go across to their own fans midway through such a crucial game and urge them to calm down and stop throwing fireworks on to the pitch.

The game sparked to life after only 25 seconds when Düsseldorf's Beister hammered in a shot from just outside the penalty area. The sot curled away from the Hertha goalkeeper and the visitors could have let this early setback derail them. However, staying true to their sponsors (DB, who had laid on discounted travel) they charged forward at every opportunity, often leaving themselves exposed to the counter attack and long balls down the channels. Unfortunately, as with DB, the game would also feature delays.

Hertha's possession finally bore fruit when a free-kick was whipped in from the left and Ben-Hatira rose and powered his header in to the bottom corner past the hapless Ratajczak. At 1-1, Hertha needed to be aware that a second Fortuna goal would mean they needed 3 goals in normal time. However, another goal for Hertha would force the tie in to extra-time.

It was parity as the sides went in at half-time and Hertha coach, Otto Rehhagel, was clearly using every ounce of his forty years of managerial experience, by keeping the Fortuna players waiting, as Hertha took their time entering the field for the re-start. The half was only 10 minutes old when Ben-Harita received his marching orders and 4 minutes later Hertha were 4-2 down on aggregate.

The goal Hertha scored on 85 minutes was overshadowed by the scenes that followed. If the Fortuna fans had waited for the game to be finished before celebrating wildly on the pitch then they would have the moral high ground. As it is, there was talk of Hertha consulting lawyers on Twitter last night and at the very least the game will be remembered for the images below rather than the seven goal thriller and feast of football that it was. Two Berlin derby games next season though - can't wait.

Hertha fans pelt the playing surface with missiles causing a long delay

Fans ready to invade the pitch

The early pitch invasion. It could have far reaching consequences for the home side

Hertha fans boxed in by the riot police

Absurd scenes when you consider there was over a minute of added on time left

Players eventually leave the pitch after 100 minutes

Match starts again after 116 minutes - a goal for Hertha would have caused a riot

Fortuna fans celebrate - this time the final whistle had been blown

118 minutes until the game could be finished

Hertha players were camera shy last night. The rumour was that the Berlin teams press officer wanted to keep them out of the spotlight after such tense scenes

Es war ein Spiel, über das noch lange geredet werden wird – und der sportliche Ausgang stand trotz des Finalcharakters lange im Hintergrund.

Follow @UnionBerlinMan

Relegation Play-offs - protecting the 'big' clubs?

On Thursday evening Hertha face Fortuna Dusseldorf in the first leg. Fortuna are out of form and have won only 4 times since the turn of the year. The official Bundesliga helpfully divides the season in to two 17 game tables. Handy for the statto. The fact Hertha have managed to force their way in to the Relegation Play-offs is highly significant for both Berlin sides. The Union fans I spoke with all want the same outcome in the Oympiastadion - a Fortuana win. They want the Berlin derby next year and who can blame them after last season.

Sunderland fans do not have fond memories of Relegation play-offs. When Laurie McMenemy said he would take Sunderland out of the old Second Division, few expected he would face the ignominy of being the first Sunderland manager to relegate the former 'Bank of England club' into the third tier of English Football. The Guinness Book of Records is clearly written by someone who has indulged in too many of its sponsors beverages, as McMenemy is still rated as one of the twenty most successful managers in English post-war football. You only have to watch the Coogan-esque 'Do I Not Like That' documentary to see the clueless and sycophantic Geordie in action. Painfull viewing.

The more knowledgeable/sad among you may point to the "test matches" of the late 1800s - that pitted sides against each other from the First Division and newly formed Second Division - as being the first "play-offs". In the days of no promotion the bottom three and top two fought it out using a complex system. I'll not be offering any analysis I am afraid.

The relegation play-offs were introduced in to the English football league at the start of the 1986/7 season. In May 1987 Sunderland finished 20th and faced Gillingham with the second leg at Roker Park. Whilst Sunderland managed to level the tie they were relegated on away goals after an epic encounter at their old home. This format of relegation play-off lasted only two seasons and 1990/1 saw the introduction of the format that prevails today.

The principle of the play-offs is very clear in England. It extends the interest in the league for a large number of clubs giving them something to play for. Instead of the top three being promoted the top 2 are promoted and places 3-6 enter the lottery for promotion. The case for the play-offs here in Germany is much less clear cut.

If we compare the Championship in England, with the Bundesliga 2 in Germany, in my view there are two critical differences. The Championship is arguably less competitive so needs a play-off system to keep the league competition alive for as long as possible. You would be hard pressed to find anyone in disagreement with this point. The play-off system in the Bundesliga appears to want to protect the bigger clubs (offering third bottom in the Bundesliga 1 an escape route via the play-offs) rather than enhance the league competition in the German second tier. Dusseldorf finished third but nobody in mid-table was vying for 6th place as they were in The Championship. For these two reasons I'd be disgruntled if I were a Fortuana Dusseldorf fan and relieved if I supported the West Berliners.

Being a Sunderland fan, an FC Union convert and a lover of the underdog, I will be rooting for the away side this evening. KO time is 20:30. Expect an overview over the weekend. You can sign up via e-mail on the right hand side of this page or follow me on Twitter below. Please do so and thanks for reading. The blog has been up 1 week and has received almost 2,500 views, largely due to the official FC Union site highlighting the blog on their Facebook page, with the classic headline "Unioner aller Länder... auch in Cottbus dabei ;-)." The icing on the cake was a Union fan describing the whole blog as the "hammer". No greater praise.

Follow @UnionBerlinMan

Bundesliga, 34. Spieltag Preview

It is doubtful that I will make a habit of commenting on the top tier of German football. The league gets enough coverage as it is. However, all Union fans will be keeping a close eye on today's proceedings at the Olympiastadion on the last match day of the season.

When the Berlin wall came down people from the east came in droves to watch Hertha BSC - two days after the wall fell Hertha played SG Wattenscheid and the fixture attracted over 11,000 east Germans. A fan friendship developed and a subsequent friendly between Hertha and Union attracted over 50,000 fans.

Whilst the rivalry may not be fierce, most Union fans will be glad to see Hertha relegated - last season Union even managed to beat Hertha on their own patch.

Union fans celebrate with red flares as they beat Hertha 2-1 in the Olypiastadion last season. My debut at the home of Hertha.

Hertha are currently languishing second from bottom and their only hope of survival involves beating 1899 Hoffenheim today and hoping that FC Köln do not manage to cause an upset against Bayern and take all three points. If Hoffenheim beat Bayern the Hertha result is immaterial. It does not bode well for either side though as one of them must face a play-off due to finishing third bottom.

Hoffenheim's away form is mixed and they have lost as many (8) as they have won and drew. However, Hertha have the second worst home record in the division and the strange atmosphere of the often half empty Olympiastadion has showed, as they have garnered a measly 12 points at home thus far. Most clubs would be pleased with Hertha's impressive average attendance - it's over 53,000.

It would be a brave man to back Hertha to win this afternoon and avoid relegation. They would then have to beat one of the three Bundesliga 2 teams, who are still in contention for third spot, via the play-offs if they were to retain their Bundesliga status.

However, the last day of the season is prone to throwing up surprises and Hoffenheim have nothing to play for. At least Hertha can cling to the fact that Bayern players will be playing for a place in the Champions League Final although they have already comfortably secured second spot and qualification for The Champions League next season and may be in wind-down mode, keen to avoid any injuries.

Follow @UnionBerlinMan