Bayern vs Union Berlin highlights
Union learned the hard way that there’s nothing quite so dangerous as a wounded Bayern. Beaten 3-2 by Borussia Monchengladbach last time out, the defending champions laid siege to the visiting goal, with Thomas Muller miscuing from close range and birthday boy Jamal Musiala testing Frederik Ronnow early on. Robin Knoche blocked from Musiala and Ronnow parried a Müller volley, before Eric Choupo-Moting headed in a Kingsley Coman cross for the overdue first goal. Aissa Laidouni blazed over from inside the area with Union’s only real opening of note, other than a tame Jerome Roussillon shot at Yann Sommer, before Bayern extended their lead. Müller was the architect, sending Coman through to round Ronnow and then cutting a pass back for Musiala to sweep in a third.
Bayern are pretty much where you would expect them to be after 21 rounds of matches – looking down on the rest of the Bundesliga and in pole position to land an 11th-successive Meisterschale. But they are being pushed all the way by the chasing pack, with Borussia Dortmund and Union also on 43 points following Bayern’s 3-2 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach.
It’s the ninth time this season Bayern have dropped points in the Bundesliga. Augsburg are the only other team to have beaten them – and the only one to have stopped them from scoring in over three years – while they have recorded just three wins from six league matches since the turn of the year. Union and Dortmund are among the teams to have taken points off the record champions, who have still served up a handful of customary shellackings against the likes of Eintracht Frankfurt, Mainz, Werder Bremen and Bochum.
In cup competition, Bayern have been dominant. Nagelsmann’s outfit began the campaign by beating RB Leipzig to the Supercup and have safely negotiated three rounds of the DFB Cup to reach the quarter-final stage, while their UEFA Champions League form has taken in a further seven wins out of seven matches, including a first-leg victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16. Overall, their perfect record in cup competitions this term has taken in 11 victories and they are still very much on course to complete a clean sweep of trophies.
As for the visitors, Union continue to defy expectations and have emerged as a genuine threat to Bayern’s crown. Urs Fischer’s side have improved with every passing year in the Bundesliga – ending up 11th in their first campaign before backing that up with seventh and fifth-placed finishes in each of their last two seasons. Now, they are on course to go even better and they have Germany’s record reigning champions in their sights.
Their seven-game unbeaten run at the beginning of the campaign (W5, D2) – which included the 1-1 draw with Bayern in the reverse fixture – was a sign of things to come, while victories over Dortmund and Leipzig (twice) are proof, if needed, that they are serious about their title tilt. A six-match unbeaten start to 2023 (W5, D1) makes them one of the most in-form teams on the continent and they, like their illustrious Matchday 22 rivals, are still in both domestic and European cup competitions.
History of Bayern and Union berlin
Bayern and Union met for the first time in their history following the latter’s debut promotion to the top-flight in 2019. The inaugural fixture resulted in a 2-1 Bayern victory at the Allianz Arena, with Robert Lewandowski and Benjamin Pavard on target for the hosts, before Sebastian Polter pulled one back from the penalty spot late on. Bayern won the reverse fixture 2-0 and have never been beaten by Union in seven meetings to date.
There were a pair of draws in the 2021/22 campaign, before Bayern again did the double last term over the course of two goal-fests – a 5-2 win for the Bavarians in the capital and a 4-0 victory in Munich. This season’s Matchday 5 meeting at the An der Alten Forsterei ended in a 1-1 draw, with Union taking a 12th-minute lead through Sheraldo Becker. Joshua Kimmich pulled one back three minutes later and there would be nothing to separate the two sides come the final whistle.
