Religation 2019: The Bundesliga sixteenth against the third team of the 2nd league.
VfB Stuttgart meets 1.FC Union Berlin. A five-time German champion is facing a team that has never played a single time in the German Bundesliga before.
Sounds like a clear thing to most. But after last week's first leg, both teams can still hope to be present in the highest German league in the next season and to be able to play against the very big teams in German football.
2:2 was the score after the first 90 minutes, and after a hard fight the big underdog Union Berlin had snatched a draw from the favourites in Stuttgart. And that after the hosts had taken the lead twice!
A great performance by the Berliners, especially morally, considering the end of the season in the 2nd Bundesliga, where they missed the direct promotion by just a single goal. But a miss is as good as a mile, and therefore the Unioners can now try their luck once more in the relegation games.
For coach Urs Fischer's team, the now very last game tonight is about the chance to compete with the big guys.
Bayern München instead of Dynamo Dresden.
But Union does not really have the reputation of a winning team. Several times they failed in the relegation for the 2nd league, and their rise into the professional football league was a fierce battle.
Just like this season, in which the fans have been again one of the main pillars of the club. Union is pure passion, and suffering is something they are used to.
But some people in the club don't really want to see Union promoted, in the 2nd league they have established themselves well in the last few years and have been able to spoil their own fans with beautiful games and many victories. That with the many victories would change abruptly in the 1st Bundesliga, since no one in Berlin really believes that the Union could keep up with the big teams.
It's more about the great experience and adventure of having played in the highest league at least once.
But for that they would first have to leave VfB Stuttgart behind them tonight. Not an easy task, since the VfB hasn't given up yet and with a victory could destroy all hope and dreams of the Berliners.
Should Union, however, manage to reach a 0:0 or 1:1 draw tonight against VfB Stuttgart or even win, then in the south-east of Berlin some crazy dreams would come finally true and history would be written in the stadium "Alte Försterei".
There are hardly any football wonders left in today's highly professionalised world of ball sports, so it would be all the more important if this charming club with its great passionate fans would finally be invited onto the big stage.
But even if it should not be enough in the end, tens of thousands of husky throats will celebrate their team after this great season. And with it themselves, because they are also a important part of one of the most wonderful football teams in the world.
Union Berlin is genuine football and pure enthusiasm, and hopefully we will soon be able to enjoy them playing in the big stadiums in Germany.
In this spirit:
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