(Football news) Union Berlin is now bottom of Group C, and Los Blancos has already won the division. In order to qualify for the Europa League knockout phase, the hosts must defeat Carlo Ancelotti’s team and hope that Braga loses to Napoli. If they finish third, they will automatically go to the next round.
Union Berlin’s 52-year-old head coach Nenad Bjelica has had a great start to his career, having guided the team to one victory and one tie since taking over at the end of November.
They moved into 15th place in the standings with 10 points after their 3-1 Bundesliga triumph over Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday, which turned out to be their first win since the end of August.
In their most recent Champions League match, Die Eisernen managed to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw against Braga, maintaining their hopes of placing third in the group. In fact, the German team would finish third and guarantee a spot in the Europa League if Union Berlin defeated Real Madrid and Braga fell short against Napoli.
Union Berlin qualified for the Champions League group stage for the first time last season after finishing fourth in the Bundesliga. However, they have struggled to move up to the top table, collecting just two points from five games, leaving them at the bottom of the section.
The Real Madrid team, who have lost 20 of their 35 prior away games against German competition, will be welcomed by the Iron Ones, who have won three of their last five home European games. This should instill confidence in the home team ahead of what could be a very difficult match, at least on paper.
With a 4-2 victory over Napoli at Bernabeu on November 29, Real Madrid made it five victories out of five Champions League games this season. As section champions, they advanced to the competition’s knockout phase.
