Berlin/Rotterdam – The games in the group stage of the Conference League, that was the idea, should all be a celebration for 1. FC Union Berlin. This game on Thursday evening at De Kuip, in the stadium of Feyenoord Rotterdam, was not a festival, but a disturbing experience. Not only because of the 1: 3 defeat, in which the iron did not play football as closely and as energetically as last, but also because of the sometimes scandalous side effects. In any case, the events around the stadium cast a dark shadow over the third appearance of the Köpenicker in the newly created competition.
Some of the fans of Feyenoord are known to be unabashedly willing to use violence, see guests from Germany as intruders and harass them, so to speak, out of tradition. A tour group led by Union President Dirk Zingler was confronted with this problem the evening before the game in downtown Rotterdam. In a pub, the Köpenickers were attacked by a wild horde, but ultimately got away with the horror.
In the legendary arena of the honorary division, the fire was fired vigorously from kick-off, which resulted in a thick cloud of clouds of smoke. Outside, however, numerous supporters of the Bundesliga club were refused entry, which those affected, as could be read from numerous tweets, were difficult to understand. Yes, obviously the police went about it so uncompromisingly that one or the other even suffered physical damage.
Dog bites have been reported
At least that’s what Union’s press spokesman Christian Arbeit explained to the sports information service during the first half of the game. There was talk of an “extremely tough police operation”, of “several injured”. Meanwhile, the fan community “Eiserne Hilfe” reported numerous arrests. “During the fan march there were targeted attacks on the heads of those involved, batons and dogs were used at the entrance, several people were bitten, have lacerations or are in the hospital,” said “Iron Aid” chairman Andreas Lattemann. He spoke of an operation “of an arbitrary nature”. According to the latest information, a defective card scanner is said to have been responsible for the tumult at the entrance.
So this game will definitely have consequences. This game, which from a sporting point of view, after a short period of orientation, was not necessarily high-quality, but was gripping and full of life. And that’s how it happened.
Berlin publishing house
EISERN magazine No. 4
The new edition of the EISERN magazine – order now at the kiosk or here!
For Edition No. 4 we were able to meet Urs Fischer for an interview in the Swiss Embassy. The successful coach of 1. FC Union Berlin explains what he had to get used to in Berlin and what he is still struggling with. In addition, the actress Jasmin Tabatabai reveals why she is enthusiastic about the Iron. And we were looking for clues in Eisenhüttenstadt, where the defender Paul Jaeckel got the tools for a professional career as a child.
On one side, Taiwo Awoniyi involved his opponent Lutsharel Geertruida in a short Greco-Roman style wrestling match in the hosts’ box, with the Nigerian emerging as the winner. Finally, the Austrian Gernot Trauner rushed in from the side, knocking Awoniyi down with a nudge and a kick to the hoe. But Giorgi Kruashvili, the referee from Georgia, didn’t say anything, nor could any video assistant be encouraged to rethink, because video assistants are not yet used in the Conference League. Eight minutes had been played.
On the other hand, Unions Paul Jaeckel suddenly got into a one-on-one situation against the highly talented Luis Sinisterra. The Colombian skilfully turned around the defender of the Iron, who appeared somewhat sedate in the scene, picked up the pace, penetrated into the penalty area, passed on Guus Til, who did not hit the ball properly from the best position. Rani Khedira finally intervened with one leg and falsified, so that Alireza Jahanbakhsh was able to complete the 1-0 for Feyenoord from three meters without being forced.
Robin Knoche fails at 0-2
Already then it was indicated that the defense line of the Unioners, in which Timo Baumgartl represented Marvin Friedrich, who had suffered from Corona, will not be as safe as usual. That keeper Andreas Luthe could experience an extremely restless evening. And indeed: Even the otherwise almost infallible Robin Knoche made a serious mistake in the 29th minute.
Sure, there was a slight push from Bryan Linssen after a long pass, but Knoche had already lost his bearings before the slight push and finally had to watch how Linssen gave Luthe no chance with a low shot.
Other teams, for whom participation in the European Cup is also a new experience, like to lose themselves in such moments. Not so the team of trainer Urs Fischer, who also demonstrated their ability to take on this evening, at least in the beginning. Awoniyi headed a very fine cross from Christopher Trimmel into Feyenoord’s goal just seven minutes after the 2-0 draw.
Max Kruse remains pale
The problem of the Iron: Not everyone was as determined as the class striker that evening. Max Kruse, for example, remained pale, Grischa Prömel and Kevin Möhwald were more busy chasing after than setting accents from the half-positions. And the defenders did not manage to gain security in the course of the game either. Knoche remained nervous, Jaeckel was not awake enough in several scenes.
At 1: 3 by Sinisterra in the 76th minute, however, not only the two, but four or five Unioners were involved with unfortunate actions. Luthe was able to fend off a shot from Linssen, but Sinisterra, the most conspicuous player on the pitch, was there to help. And if Luthe hadn’t shown one or the other parade in the final phase, a 4: 1, even a 5: 1 would have been possible for the Rotterdam team.