‘Club built on blood’ Union Berlin’s blast continues on the European stage
“Union goes farther.”
The German Bundesliga has been dominated by Bayern Munich for the past decade. An unprecedented record of 10 consecutive league championships (2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22) and has already succeeded in winning 21 championships before that, standing tall as the best club in Germany.
In the 2022-2023 season, while Munich slowed down for a while, competitors came up. Rivals Borussia Dortmund are chasing second place with 43 points, tied with Munich 토토사이트(43 points).
There are those who are competing for the title with 43 points equal to them, so it is FC Union Berlin. Berlin finished third in the second division in the 2018-2019 season and won the promotion playoff against VfB Stuttgart, who finished the first division in 16th place, and stepped into the first division for the first time since its founding.
It was Union who experienced the first division in its founding, but those united as one succeeded in remaining without much difficulty, ranking 11th in the 2019-2020 season based on steady performance. Afterwards, Union ranked 7th in the 2020-2021 season and 5th in the 2021-2022 season, establishing itself in the top German league.
In the history of Union’s club, ‘blood donation’ is an indispensable word. Union fans are second to none when it comes to loving the team. Fans took their feet off when the maintenance of the club license was in jeopardy due to financial difficulties ahead of the 2004-2005 season.
To raise the money needed for the team, fans directly started raising money, and a large number of fans donated the money they received by donating blood to the team. In addition, more than 2,000 fans directly contributed to the reconstruction of the home stadium in 2008. It is truly a club built on blood.
Union, which is causing a sensation in the Bundesliga, is now advancing to the European stage. Union succeeded in advancing to the round of 16 by winning 3-1 in the second leg on the 24th after drawing 0-0 with AFC Ajax in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 16, played on the 17th (hereinafter Korean time).
On the 24th, Germany’s ‘Bild’ announced their advance to the round of 16, saying, “Union goes further. For the first time in club history, we have advanced to the round of 16 of the Europa League.”
After the game, according to Bild, Union midfielder Rani Khedira said: “Having an experience like this is amazing. We gave our all on the pitch and we deserve to win. If you have team spirit on the pitch, it’s easy to beat us. won’t,” he said.
Right-back Josip Yuranovic, who also scored in the match, said: “We did something historic and we took another step forward. My left-footed shot was better than expected. The atmosphere on the pitch was great and the fans were our 12th player.” told
Union coach Urs Fischer said, “They did an amazing job. The players were tireless.”
Meanwhile, Union Berlin meets Royal Union Saint-Giloise in the round of 16 of the Europa League. Saint-Giloise is in second place in the Belgian league. Let’s see what kind of history the club can achieve this season, which stood up with the blood of fans about 20 years ago, which has traveled both the Bundesliga and Europe.