Welcome to the Bundesliga - 1. FC Union Berlin

24 May 2019

At the end of every Bundesliga, there is a playoff in which no first division team wants to participate.  That playoff is the relegation playoff.  Whenever a Bundesliga season is done, the bottom two teams are automatically demoted [“relegated”] to the Bundesliga’s second division.  That is similar to the English Premier League.  The EPL automatically relegates the bottom three finishers.  Herein lies the difference with the Bundesliga.  The Bundesliga throws a lifeline to the third-worst finishing team in the first division.  That team [this year it’s Stuttgart] participates in a two-game home-and-away playoff with the third-place finisher from the Bundesliga’s second division [this year it’s Union Berlin].  Usually the team that fights to stay in the first division succeeds.  The last second-division team to earn promotion to the first division came in 2012 when Fortuna Düsseldorf beat Hertha Berlin.

The relegation playoff format is simple.  Whichever team has the most goals on aggregate from the two games wins.  In case there is a tie for aggregate goals, the first tie-breaker is the “away goal” rule.  Whoever scores the most goals away from home wins.  If the two teams are still deadlocked, then they play two fifteen-minute periods.  There is no sudden-death “golden goal” like what one sees in the National Hockey League.  If neither team scores during the two extra periods, then it’s on to penalty kicks.  Each team has five turns.  The participants must be among those players who were on the field when the referee blows the final whistle.  If, after each team has attempted its five PKs and the score is still tied, then the teams attempt PKs until somebody wins by one.

The first game of this year’s relegation playoff was in Stuttgart.  It looked as if both teams would fight to a scoreless draw by halftime.  At the 41-minute mark, Stuttgart broke the ice by getting on the board first.  The home side fans didn’t have long to celebrate their team’s lead because Union Berlin evened the scored immediately following the kickoff after Stuttgart’s goal.  At halftime the score was 1-1.  Stuttgart made one halftime substitution by bringing on former German international Mario Gómez. Gómez made the Stuttgart coach look brilliant by putting Stuttgart ahead at the fifty-one-minute mark.  The goal was a very lucky goal – Gómez outran two Union Berlin defenders, and his shot deflected off one Union player’s foot and another Union player’s face before it got by the goalie and found the back of the net.  Stuttgart fans had more to celebrate.  But like in the first half, Union Berlin tied the score, 2-2.  That’s where it ended when the referee’s whistle blew. The body language from the Stuttgart players sent the same message – “we’re screwed”.  On the Union Berlin side of the field there were smiles all around.  They got two goals away from home.  That’s a huge advantage for them going into the second game that will be played in their yard.  If they get a 0-0 or 1-1 result in the second game, they get promoted to the first division for next season.  If Stuttgart wins in Berlin 1-0 or better, they stay in the first division.

27 May 2019

The second leg of the relegation playoff took place in the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, located in Köpenick on the southeast outskirts of the German capital. This stadium has been in existence in one form or another since 1920.  With a capacity of just over 22,000, An der Alten Försterei is smaller than the smallest Bundesliga venue in Freiburg, the Schwarzwald-Stadion (capacity 24,000).  The place was packed, the atmosphere electric with the Union Berlin supporters in full voice.  They sang and clapped for the entire game. The team’s roots go back to the days of East Germany, the supporters of whom were part of East Germany’s trade unions [hence the team’s name].

When the two teams faced off today, Union Berlin needed only a draw against Stuttgart to win promotion to the first division.  In the first half, they played like it.  Stuttgart controlled the ball for most of the first half, and played in Union’s end for the better part of the first half.  Stuttgart nearly got on the board in just three minutes as they barely missed converting a corner kick.  At 8:33 Stuttgart left-back Dennis Aogo planted a free kick into the far-left corner of Union’s net.  It was not to be.  Stuttgart forward Nicolás González was standing in an offside position in front of Union’s goalie Rafal Gikiewicz and blocked his vision.  The offside call was very clear.  The match commentator was sure of the call before the referee went to the video assisted replay [VAR].  Sure enough, the goal was disallowed.  It was definitely the correct decision.  It was a beautiful strike that was wasted.

As befitting the desperation of a relegation playoff, bodies from both sides were flying everywhere. There was much contact between the heads of Union and Stuttgart players. Two Stuttgart players, defender Holger Badstuber and defender Ozan Kabak, played 70 minutes with their heads in bandages.  Badstuber was a bloody mess by the time the referee blew the final whistle. Both Badstuber and Kabak are going to be feeling it tomorrow morning.  How strict is the DFB’s concussion protocol, anyway?

The first half ended in a goalless draw.  So far, the aggregate total worked in Union’s favor.  As in the first game, Stuttgart brought Mario Gómez off the bench for added scoring power.  Stuttgart hoped Gómez would repeat his goal-scoring performance from the first game [he didn’t].  Union played with more pace than they had during the first half. Union forward Suleiman Abdullahi [on loan from Eintracht Braunschweig] struck the woodwork of Stuttgart’s goal twice [at 64” and 66”], but both times he got an unlucky bounce.  Still it was a goalless draw.  Time was on Union’s side.  Stuttgart need one goal to stay alive in the first division.  They almost got it when Benjamin Pavard [bound for Bayern Munich next season] launched a rocket toward Union’s goal in the game’s closing stages, only to be swatted away by Gikiewicz.  Stuttgart’s goal never came.  After a little more than five minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle.  The score at the end of the game was as it started, 0-0.  Stuttgart were relegated to the second division, the first time since suffering that fate in 2016.  Don’t cry for Stuttgart.  According to the match commentators, this season has been Stuttgart’s worst statistically.  They earned their relegation.

And what of Union Berlin?  For the first time in the club’s history, they earned promotion to the first division.  Berlin now has two teams in the first division, the other being Hertha BSC.  Since unification in 1990, there has been an invisible wall between East German and West German teams.  Dynamo Dresden and Hansa Rostock entered the first division of the Bundesliga after the dissolution of the DDR-Oberliga.  Rostock have been up and down, played 12 seasons in the top division, but they currently dwell in 3. Liga [the third division].  Dresden played in the top division for 4 years.  They have had their ups and downs as well, drifting between 2. Bundesliga and the Regionalliga [the fourth division].  They currently play in 2. Bundesliga.  FC Energie Cottbus played in the top division for six years. VfB Leipzig played just one season in the top division [1993-94].  The eastern German teams haven’t attracted partnerships from large companies like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund [or ironically, Stuttgart].  

The Double

Bayern Munich hadn’t exactly covered themselves in glory on their road to the DFB-Pokal final.  I had the opportunity to watch their quarterfinal match against second-division team Heidenheim.  The game started out well enough for Bayern with Leon Goretzka scoring in the twelfth minute.  But shortly thereafter, Niklas Süle was shown the red card for a tackle he made in the Bayern penalty area.  Bayern would have to play the rest of the game with only ten men.  Heidenheim's Robert Glatzel and Marc Schnatterer later scored to give Heidenheim the 2-1 lead at halftime.  Thomas Müller, Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry each scored for Bayern after halftime to make the score 4-2.  Glatzel scored twice more to even the score, which made things a little too interesting for the comfort of Bayern’s fans.  Serge Gnabry almost made it 5-4, but his shot on goal hit the crossbar.  In the game’s waning moments, Heidenheim committed a handball, and Robert Lewandowski converted the resulting penalty kick to make the score 5-4.

Bayern’s DFB-Pokal semi-final opponent was Werder Bremen at Bremen’s Weser-Stadion.  Bayern seemed to have this match under control.  Robert Lewandowski scored in the first half, Thomas Müller scored midway through the second half.  Suddenly, Werder scored two goals in quick succession - Yuya Osako at 74’, then Milot Rashica one minute later.  Scored tied 2-2.  Werder was putting up a spirited defense for the home crowd, but their euphoria soon turned to fury when Kingsley Coman and Theodor Gebre Selassie collided in Bremen's penalty area.  From my vantage point, there was no way Coman was going to catch up to the ball headed toward Bremen goalie Jiri Pavlenka, but the referee awarded a penalty to Bayern.  The referee didn’t bother to check VAR, which made the home side and their fans furious.  Bayern got a gift from the referee, and I say that as a Bayern fan.  I didn’t think it was a penalty, but my opinion doesn’t count.  For the second week in a row, Robert Lewandowski converted a penalty that ultimately won the game for Bayern.  Bayern were on their way to the DFB-Pokal.  You can win pretty or you can win ugly, the final result still counts the same.

RB Leipzig had some trouble, but not as much as Bayern, in reaching the DFB-Pokal final.  Leipzig had to work pretty hard in the quarterfinal against Augsburg.  Neither team got on the scoreboard until the 74^th minute when Leipzig striker Timo Werner scored.  Leipzig appeared to be heading for the semi-final date when Augsburg’s Alfred Finnbogason [a scoring machine when he’s healthy] scored on a desperate shot three minutes into stoppage time.  Since this was a knockout-stage game, Augsburg and Leipzig played two tense but scoreless fifteen-minute periods, but the game ended with a twist.  Augsburg’s Michael Gregoritsch was called for a handball inside Augsburg’s penalty are four minutes into stoppage time.  Leipzig’s Marcel Halstenberg converted the resultant penalty kick and Leipzig were on their way to the semi-final.  Their semi-final opponent was second-division team Hamburg. Until the end of last season, Hamburg had been the only team to have been in the first division of the Bundesliga since its formation.  But after tempting fate for too many seasons for their fans’ liking, Hamburg were finally relegated after last season.  But they seemed to rediscover their form by making it all the way to the semi-final.  Once there, however, RB Leipzig proved to be too tough for them. Leipzig won, 3-1. 

For the first time since he left the game against Fortuna Düsseldorf on Matchday 29 with a calf injury [six weeks], Manuel Neuer started in goal instead of Sven Ulreich.  I was concerned [as was he] that he didn’t have a match under his belt prior to the DFB-Pokal final so he could shake off any rust.  Neither of us needn’t have worried.  At eleven minutes into the game, Leipzig striker Yussuf Poulsen headed a ball toward goal from a corner kick at point-blank range.  Neuer got a glove on it on sheer reflex and it hit the crossbar.  It was a “how did he do that” moment.  Neuer had another such moment in the second half.  Three minutes after the second half began, Neuer found himself being the only thing between his own goal and Leipzig midfielder Emil Forsberg.  Forsberg took a great ball from Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate.  Finding himself one-on-one with Forsberg, Neuer reminded us of why he was once considered one of the best goalies in the world.  He deflected Forsberg’s ball first with his leg and then his arm, resulting in a corner kick for Leipzig.  Ever since he broke his foot against Real Madrid two seasons ago, Neuer has not been the dominant stopper that Bayern Munich [or the German National Team] needs.  But on this day, he was the Neuer of old.  Leipzig had their chances but could not capitalize.

After last week’s 5-1 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt to win the Bundesliga, Bayern set their sights on completing the “domestic double.  But Leipzig dominated much of the opening half hour, creating one clear-cut chance [Poulsen’s].  But at 29’, Robert Lewandowski made a difficult header past Leipzig’s goalie Peter Gulasci. Lewandowski took a cross from David Alaba as he was heading away from the goal, and redirected the ball past Gulasci.  Lewandowski nearly added a second goal at 44’ after build-up work from Thomas Müller and Serge Gnabry. Moments later, from the ensuing short corner routine, Mats Hummels made contact with a low cross from Müller but Gulasci saved it.  The score was 1-0 at halftime.  [Editor’s note: You know things are not going well for RB Leipzig when you don’t hear about Timo Werner.  As goes Timo, so goes RB Leipzig, and Timo was fairly quiet all day.]

After Neuer’s miraculous save against Forsberg in the second half, Bayern were merciless in attacking the Leipzig goal.  Shots came from Lewandowski, Müller, Gnabry and Mats Hummels even got into the act.  Peter Gulasci was a busy man in the second half.  At 66’, Hummels blocked a vicious shot from Forsberg with his jaw.  One could almost see the stars and birds circling Hummels’ head, but he got up, though it took him a little while to do so.  At 70’ Bayern brought on Corentin Tolisso for his first action since September, when he suffered an ACL tear.  Leipzig substituted 20-year-old Frenchman Dayot Upamecano for team captain Willi Orban.  Leipzig coach Ralf Rangnick wanted more speed on defense.  But at 78’ Kingsley Coman scored Bayern’s second goal.  With only twelve minutes left in the game, it appeared Bayern had the Cup wrapped up, and they made two more substitutions – Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben came on for Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman. 

Lewandowski struck again.  A long Bayern clearance puts Upamecano in a tough spot.  The 30-year-old Lewandowski sprinted past the 20-year-old Upamecano, won the ball and dinked the ball over the onrushing Peter Gulasci with his left foot.  It was 3-0 Bayern with only five minutes to go.  After three minutes of stoppage time, Leipzig could not get on the board and the game ended with Bayern winning, 3-0.  Mauuel Neuer got a clean sheet, Niko Kovac got his second DFB-Pokal in as many years [his Frankfurt side beat Bayern Munich in last year’s final], and Bayern won the domestic double.  Kovac did what Jupp Heynckes couldn’t do last year, nor could Carlo Ancelotti do in his short stint at Bayern.  I think all of that talk about Niko Kovac not coaching at Bayern next year will cease.

Bayern Munich - 7th consecutive Bundesliga title

For the first time in nine years, the race to claim the Bundesliga title came down to the final week.  Bayern Munich were ahead of Borussia Dortmund on points [75-73].  The only way Dortmund was going to win the title outright would be if Bayern lost to Eintracht Frankfurt and Dortmund beat Borussia Mönchengladbach.  All Bayern needed was a draw.  Even if Dortmund won and Bayern earned only a draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern would win the first tie breaker because they had an insanely better goal differential than Dortmund [+51 to +35].  For the first time since the Allianz Arena opened, Bayern would be able to win the title in front of their home fans.  The home fans expected to see a title win on Matchday 34, and their side did not disappoint.

There had been rumblings for weeks that if Bayern won both the Bundesliga title and the DFB-Pokal, first-year coach Niko Kovac was walking on thin ice with Bayern management and might not be brought back for next season despite having a three-year contract with the team.  To his credit, Kovac put all that noise out of his mind and kept telling the press that he expected to be back next year.  Since Bayern’s early season struggles, at which point Dortmund had built a nine-point lead over the defending champions, Kovac had also expressed confidence time and again that Bayern would catch Dortmund and win the title.  Kovac never wavered from that single-minded focus. Dortmund had beaten Bayern 3-2 in the first der Klassiker on November 10^th, and Bayern gave away two points to Fortuna Düsseldorf the following week.  Bayern then went on a 13-2-1 run [which saw them score 46 goals] until the return fixture of der Klassiker on Matchday 28 [April 6^th].  Bayern mauled Dortmund 5-0 and never looked back.  While Bayern rediscovered their killer instinct, Dortmund suffered its own rash of injuries and a patch of rough playing that allowed Bayern to climb back into the title race.

Bayern weren’t the only ones with a stake in the outcome of today’s game.  They were still playing for a chance to play in the UEFA Champions League or the Europa League.  Bayern, Dortmund, and RB Leipzig already had a lock on the top three positions to qualify for UEFA Champions League play.  At kickoff this is how the standings were [following RB Leipzig];

                                    Points              GD

BMG                             55                  +15

Leverkusen                    55                  +13

Frankfurt                       54                  +16

Wolfsburg                     52                  +5

At day’s end, only one of these teams would grab the final Champions League Spot. Two teams would get automatic places in the Europa League group stage.  One team would have to play their way into the Europa League.

When it finally came time to play the game, Bayern didn’t waste any time getting on the board.  At four minutes, Kingsley Coman found the back of the next from a nifty assist from Thomas Müller – 1-0 Bayern.  Nine minutes later, Frankfurt goalie Kevin Trapp made a huge save to deny a second goal from Robert Lewandowski.  At twenty minutes Müller got his feet tangled up and missed what looked like a certain goal.  At twenty-six minutes Serge Gnabry drilled the second goal past Trapp, but upon further review Lewandowski was offside and Gnabry’s goal was disallowed.  Bayern were in control for most of the first half.

Frankfurt substituted striker Sébastien Haller, who was sitting on fourteen goals for the season.  Bayern had to swap out Leon Goretzka for Renato Sanches [injury].  At fifty minutes, Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich failed to clear a Frankfurt corner, and Haller tied the score.  Frankfurt’s celebration didn’t last long.  Two minutes later Thomas Müller shot low at Frankfurt’s Trapp.  Trapp stopped Müller’s shot, but unable to control it, the ball rebounded to Bayern’s David Alaba, who wasted no time in putting Bayern back ahead 2-1.  Eight minutes later Sanches iced it for Bayern.  Sanches got the ball on the overlap on the left, blew past the defender before tucking inside and firing through Trapp.  After that goal, Kovac substituted Franck Ribery [playing his last home game for Bayern] for Kingsley Coman.  Nine minutes later Arjen Robben [also playing his last home game for Bayern] came on for Serge Gnabry.  Then the magic happened…

At 72’, Ribery scored in typical Ribery fashion.  He dribbled between two Frankfurt defenders inside the penalty area and lifted the ball over Trapp – 4-1 Bayern. At 36, Franck showed that for him, age is just a number.  Seven minutes later, Robben added his 99^th career Bundesliga goal – 5-1 Bayern.  It was especially sweet for Robben because he missed almost half the season due to injury, and it wasn’t known until last week whether he would ever take the field for Bayern again. It was a more-than-fitting home farewell for “Robbery”.  Eleven minutes later, Bayern won their seventh consecutive Meisterschale, and it was Paulaner beer shower time anyone connected to Bayern Munich.  It was Niko Kovac’s first Bundesliga championship as a head coach, and his first Paulaner shower.  Meanwhile in Mönchengladbach, Dortmund won 2-0.  They finished the day as they started it – two points behind Bayern.  They may not have won the championship, but they had a season that exceeded all of their expectations, and they made Bayern work for it.

As for rest of the Bundesliga matches of consequence:

Wolfsburg 8-1 Augsburg

Leverkusen 5-1 Hertha Berlin

Levekusen grabbed the final UEFA Champions League berth. Borussia Mönchengladbach and Wolfsburg made it to the Europa League automatically, while Frankfurt have to play their way into the Europa League.  Last season, Wolfsburg were on the verge of relegation to the second division.  They were saved from that fate by defeating Holstein Kiel in the two-game relegation playoff.  Last season Borussia Mönchengladbach finished in the middle of the pack in 9^th place.  Now they and Wolfsburg are in the Europa League.  Last year Leverkusen finished 5^th, good enough for the Europa League.  Now they’ve moved up to play in the Champions League next season.  Werder Bremen also improved from last year, but finished just one spot behind Frankfurt.  Consequently, Werder won’t be playing European football next season.  The biggest disappointment this season by far has been Schalke.  Last year they finished 2^nd in the Bundesliga.  This season they fell all the way to 14^th, costing coach Domenico Tedesco his job.  Despite qualifying for the group stage of the Europa League, BMG’s coach Dieter Hecking was also relieved of his job.  Finally, both Hannover and Nürnberg were automatically relegated to the second division.  Stuttgart and FC Union Berlin will face each other in the relegation playoff.