Union said goodbye to Urs Fischer, the FußballGott who created dreams

Photo: Boris Streubel/Getty Images

It is often trite to describe a particular goal as the turning point of a season. Especially with late goals, we tend to let emotion describe them, as if they are more important than they actually could be.

However, separating events and emotions has never been a specialty of Union Berlin. This is a club and a fanbase that feels everything. The club whose supporters literally gave their own blood to raise money to fill the empty coffers, who rebuilt a crumbling stadium with their own hands – and who, after a terrible run of twelve consecutive defeats that should have been a dream season, in an unfolding nightmare, not shouting for their head coach to be fired, but emptying their lungs with the gospel that he was still a FußballGott to them.

Related: Blood, sweat and cheer: how Union Berlin rose from ruin to become the European elite

In the end, that extraordinary outpouring of support was still not enough to save Urs Fischer. The coach who had given Union everything – an unlikely first-ever promotion to the top flight, top dog status in Berlin as they holed up as Hertha faltered, European football and finally, astonishingly, arrival in the Champions League – had reached the end of a line that would have arrived much faster at almost any other club.

Now Union has a new coach, which still sounds strange to say. Croatian Nenad Bjelica, who last played for Trabzonspor until being relieved of his duties in mid-October, was announced on Sunday morning and was greeted as an unknown in Germany. Yet he has a lot in common (CV-wise) with his predecessor Fischer, having managed second-tier superpowers Austria Vienna and Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.

The difference, of course, is that Bjelica starts at a higher level than the man who came before, and at a lower level. The negative run of results this season is such that it prompted Fischer to leave, a seemingly unimaginable scenario just weeks before. The decision, which was made public and became final three days after the humiliation at Leverkusen that marked the break for the internationals, was a truly mutual decision, president Dirk Zingler had been at pains to emphasize. “He didn’t resign, and I didn’t fire him either,” Zingler insisted.

The story continues

Earlier this weekend it looked like Raúl, the coach of Real Madrid’s B team Castilla, could be the chosen one ahead of Bjelica taking center stage. At least he has something to work with; Kevin Volland’s late equalizer against Augsburg ended nine straight defeats in the Bundesliga on an afternoon when much of what could have gone wrong did.

The home team fell behind in the first half due to a penalty from Ermedin Demirovic when referee Florian Badstübner, on behalf of the VAR, viewed the images of Robin Gosens’ firm challenge against Arne Engels, but stuck with his original award. “I stand by the fact that it was not a penalty,” Gosens said afterwards, “but I must say that I am endangering the team [with such a tackle].” Union were then awarded their own penalty in the second half, only for Robin Knoche to be saved by Finn Dahmen. Gosens then had a header disallowed for offside, but the header did not fall.

Volland’s aim was exactly how this new association, which signed household names as they prepared for the Champions League, should work. In some ways it was a typical goal in this setting, coming from a set piece. In other cases it was a window to a step forward in terms of individual quality, with the German striker taking a gamble and finishing past Dahmen with craft and clarity, which is not an easy trick in the current situation.

And it felt crucial. Not only was it Volland’s first Bundesliga goal in 1,246 days following his spell at Monaco, it was also Union’s first in the competition since October 7, and their first in their homeland Alten Försterei since the opening game there this season, victory over Mainz on October 20. August – which now seems like a lifetime ago. After Köln’s defeat against Bayern Munich on Friday evening, the point also ensured that Union disappeared from last place in the rankings. The courage shown was a tribute to Marco Grote, the club’s under-19 coach, and his assistant Marie-Louise Eta, who took over the team after Fischer. “It was a step in the right direction,” Grote said with some caution.

While Grote returns to the under-19s, Eta, the first woman to sit on a Bundesliga bench, will remain with the seniors and Bjelica for the time being, with club legend Sebastian Bönig stepping down indefinitely. Bönig was also recognized in Saturday’s choreo in Köpenick in which Fischer and his also departing assistant Markus Hoffmann were praised (“You have realized dreams that we never actually had,” said the script on the moving screen). The start for the new team is a difficult one, with a midweek visit to Braga in the Champions League, followed by a trip to Bayern on Saturday. Bjelica’s home debut, against Borussia Mönchengladbach, will probably be even more important.

Moving on is important, but so is keeping the old feeling. “It was similar to what happened with Urs Fischer five and a half years ago,” Zingler said on Sunday when he presented Bjelica and his assistant Danijel Jumic, describing their first meeting. “I don’t talk to coaches about tactical formations or playing styles, I talk to the coaches about life.” And life will go on at Union, as it always has. They would prefer to do that as a team from the highest division.

Hoffenheim 1-1 Mainz, Heidenheim 0-0 VfL Bochum, Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 Stuttgart, Dortmund 4-2 Borussia Mönchengladbach, Freiburg 1-1 Darmstadt, Union Berlin 1-1 Augsburg, Werder Bremen 0-3 Leverkusen, Wolfsburg 2- 1 RB Leipzig, Cologne 0-1 Bayern.

Discussion points

• The international window has not interrupted Leverkusen’s rhythm. Xabi Alonso’s leaders stormed to a 3-0 win at Werder Bremen, with ever-influential full-backs Jeremy Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo both on point with sensational strikes. For the latter, who punctuated his incredible season to date with a full Spain debut against Cyprus last week, it was his ninth goal of the campaign.

• Harry Kane is 18th winner for Bayern in Cologne, which had made the champions the leader overnight before being re-usable by Die Werkself. A 1-0 win went some way to negating Bayern’s dominance, although Thomas Tuchel bizarrely made no substitutions after complaining extensively about the demands placed on players ahead of the match.

• Borussia Dortmund again avoided the worst by overturning a 2-0 home deficit against Gladbach to eventually win 4-2, their individual qualities almost outweighing the collective malaise. It was perhaps put into context by CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke at Sunday’s General Meeting, in which he praised the club’s ability to begin to recover from losing the title on the final day of last season, which he called “the most terrible day in history”. my life”. With Leipzig losing at Wolfsburg, with star Jonas Wind recording a goal and an assist for Rogério’s winner, BVB is despite everything back in the top four.

• Stuttgart remains third after winning at Eintracht Frankfurt, with Sebastian Hoeneß taking what he called “the safe option” by replacing travel-weary top scorer Serhou Guirassy in the XI with Deniz Undav – and the on-loan Brighton man (including an opener after 56 seconds ) sealed victory in a match marred by crowd violence that left more than 100 injured.