Union Berlin vs. Braga: Champions League team news, match stats ...
Berlin's Olympiastadion is dressed in red for Union's home Champions League debut. - © IMAGO/Contrast
Berlin's Olympiastadion is dressed in red for Union's home Champions League debut. - © IMAGO/Contrast
Union Berlin are looking for their first-ever points in the UEFA Champions League as Leonardo Bonucci & Co. host Portuguese side Braga at the Olympiastadion on Tuesday (kick-off: 6.45pm CEST).
Follow all the action from a packed Olympiastadion in our live blog ....
Danilho Doekhi's long pass is flicked on by Lucas Tousart and Becker is away again. A superb, delicate finish follows from Union's No. 27 and Union are in dreamland.
The home coach is looking pretty contented right now. His Union team are deservedly leading, keeping their shape and are continuing to probe for openings.
Bruma almost finds a quick equaliser but the visiting attacker's shot is well blocked by goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow.
There it is! Union Berlin's first-ever UEFA Champions League goal is scored by the home captain Sheraldo Becker. Kral feeds the big striker, who waltzes through and finishes calmly to lift the Olympiastadion from its foundations.
Behrens is able to nod the ball for Becker and the latter gets his strike away. Matheus is off his line and makes a fine save.
Behrens slips the pass in for his captain. Becker manages to get the shot away ... Matheus makes the save. Becker was offside.
Diogo Leite embarks on a super run and he manages to get the cross in. Becker almost gets there, the visitors do, though, and that'll be a corner for the hosts. It comes to nothing.
Behrens steams away on the break and he has options to his right. The Union forward can't make the most of a fine chance, however, and Braga get back to clear their lines.
The visitors are seeing more of the ball thus far with 64 per cent possession. Here come Union with a counter-attack, however ....
© IMAGO/Beautiful Sports
After the dust settles on that Bonucci free kick and those two bookings, Frederik Rönnow deals well with a Rodrigo Zalazar free kick.
Ricardo Horta is also shown a yellow card for a bit of back chat to the ref.
The former Juventus man is booked for a challenge on Banza.
Alex Kral has been putting in a solid shift early on as the Czech Republic international protects his defence from the menacing Rocardo Horta.
The home fans got over the disappointment of that VAR disallowed goal just minutes ago and they are rocking again as they look to lift the hosts.
Ohhh, the Olympiastadion was a cauldron of noise just moments ago as Gosens put the ball into thenet after some good work from Becker on the break. The latter was offside in the build-up, however.
The action is underway at the Olympiastadion as Braga kick off!
Huge chants of "Iron Union" ring out around the stadium and we're all set for kick off in Berlin!
Torrential rain and wind have befallen Berlin as both sides struggle through their pre-match warm-ups. We'll have an extra slippery surface come kick-off time!
There is also a big opportunity for Union to end a run of five straighth losses here. Urs Fischer's men have scored just once during that sequence so let's see how home forwards Kevin Behrens and Sheraldo Becker respond to the pressure.
It goes without saying that Union would love to score their first Champions League goal in front of their adoring fans at a packed Olympiastadion. But can Urs Fischer's men also dream of taking their maiden three points here? They face a Braga side that have lost their last five games in the group stages of European club football's elite tournament.
© IMAGO/Jan Huebner
Union are showing two changes to the side that lost to Heidenheim at the weekend. Josip Juranovic and Janik Haberer (suspended against Real Madrid) are in for Christopher Trimmel and David Datro Fofana.
Braga's in-form forward Simon Banza (pictured) is preferred up front to Abel Ruiz up front for the visitors this evening while with Victor Gómez injured, Joe Mendes steps up. Serdar Saatçı, meanwhile, takes José Fonte's place in defence.
© IMAGO/GlobalImagens
Rønnow - Doekhi, Bonucci, Leite - Král - Juranović, Tousart, Haberer, Gosens - Becker (c), Behrens
Schwolow, Stein, Jaeckel, Aaronson, Volland, Laïdouni, Roussillon, Trimmel, Kemlein
Matheus - Mendes, Saatçı, Niakaté, Borja - Zalazar, Horta (c), Al-Musrati, - Bruma, Banza, Djaló
Tiago Sá, Horníček, José Fonte, Abel Ruiz, André Horta, Paulo Oliveira, Victor Carvalho, Adrián Marin, Rony Lopes, Pizzi, João Moutinho, André Castro
We're not far away from both starting line-ups being revealed. The atmosphere is building nicely around the Olympiastadion, which is decked out in red today for Union's first Champions League 'home' game.
Union's Portuguese defender spent the 2021/22 season on loan to Braga before moving to the Bundesliga. He says: "It won't be an easy match. Braga are a good team. They are resilient and get better every season. We will do exactly what the coach demands of us. At Real Madrid (pictured) we showed that we have what it takes. We will play more compactly and efficiently against Braga. We want to give the fans a win."
© Getty Images
Union Berlin coach Urs Fischer is understandably excited at the prospect of his side being backed by a packed Olympiastadion. He says: "You have to look forward to that. To play in front of 70,000 of your fans can definitely help you. First and foremost, the team need to show that they are ready for the challenge though."
© IMAGO/O.Behrendt/IMAGO/Contrast
Robin Knoche (muscular) and Rani Khedira (calf) are doubts for the hosts. Alex Král recovered from an ankle injury in time for the defeat at Heidenheim at the weekend. Predicting Urs Fischer's starting XI is not an easy task given their disappointing Bundesliga form and talented squad after a number of high-profile summer signings. Leonardo Bonucci has a good chance of bringing his immense Champions League experience into the back three again alongside ex-Braga man Diogo Leite.
2:27
This was the incredible scene when Union Berlin fans travelled in their thousands to Madrid for their side's opening Champions League match.
The Berlin side's heroic defensive effort at Champions League record winners Real Madrid was finally broken in the fourth minute of stoppage time by former Dortmund youngster Jude Bellingham. Coming so close to taking a point at the Bernabeu has to encourage Urs Fischer's side in their maiden Champions League campaign. After a good start to the Bundesliga, Union have lost their last four, most recently with a 0-1 defeat at newly promoted Heidenheim on Saturday.
Braga enjoyed an encouraging start to the Champions League despite a defeat to Italian champions Napoli. Armindo Bruma had seemed to secure a point for the Portuguese side with an 84th-minute strike until a late Sikou Niakaté own goal led to an unfortunate 1-2 loss. The third-placed side in last season's Primiera Liga have won both their league matches since, scoring four in each.
The tie will be the first Champions League encounter in the German capital since the 2015 final between Barcelona and Juventus. The last time a team were at home in the competition at the iconic Olympiastadion was back in March 2000 (Hertha Berlin v Porto).
© Getty Images
4:45
Plenty of Union Berlin fans will be pinching themselves ahead of their first ever Champions League home tie. We recap how the club made history last season by qualifying for the elite competition...
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Union came so agonisingly close to claiming that first point away at Real Madrid a fortnight ago until an injury-time Jude Bellingham goal dashed their dreams. Now they have the chance at home to Braga, although the game will be played across the city at Hertha Berlin's Olympiastadion as opposed to the 22,000-capacity Stadion An der Alten Försterei. However, if Urs Fischer's men are to post their first points in the competition, they will have to halt a run of negative results. Last weekend's 1-0 defeat against Heidenheim saw the Irons extend their losing streak to five consecutive matches in all competitions and led Fisher to urge his side to take their chances in the encounters ahead. "I counted four or five [opportunities] from which we had to score," the Swiss tactician told Union's official website after Saturday's reverse. "We must [finish our chances] better, it's the only way we can change the results," the coach added after seeing his side find the net just once in that five-match sequence. Alex Král shook off an ankle injury to face Heidenheim at the weekend but Robin Knoche (muscular) and Rani Khedira (calf) continue to nurse respective knocks. That means summer signing Leonardo Bonucci continues at the heart of the back three alongside ex-Braga man Diogo Leite.
Tuesday's visitors to Germany also suffered defeat in their group opener against Italian champions Napoli but the Portuguese outfit arrive in Berlin in confident mood after back-to-back domestic victories. A 4-1 triumph against Boavista was followed by last Thursday's 4-2 win at Estrela da Amadora and leaves Artur Jorge's team fifth in the standings in Portugal. Braga's joint-top scorers on five goals - Ricardo Horta and Simon Banza - were both on target at the Estádio José Gomes and they start for the visitors here. Coach Jorge insisted that his side "needed to win", with the tactician also expressing his delight that Os Arsenalistas did so while "showing great spirit." Midfielder Rodrigo Zalazar is formerly of Eintracht Frankfurt and Schalke, while Bruma spent two years at RB Leipzig.
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Match stats
Union are the 15th German team to play in the Champions League groups (more than any other nation). Bonucci was a 2014/15 Champions League runner-up with former club Juventus. He has now made 85 appearances in the competition. The last German club to win their debut home fixture in the Champions League was Wolfsburg in 2009/10. Union won three of their five Europa League home games last season at the Alte Försterei. Their European record at the Olympiastadion from the 2021/22 Conference League was one win, one draw and one loss. Union and Braga met in last season’s Europa League group stage, with the respective home team winning 1-0 in each game. Braga have lost their last five Champions League fixtures, which is the second longest losing run by a Portuguese club in the competition (after Benfica’s eight between 2017 and 2018).Find out more about 60 years of the Bundesliga here!
CONFIRMED teams
Union: Rønnow - Doekhi, Bonucci, Leite - Král - Juranović, Tousart, Haberer, Gosens - Becker (c), BehrensSubs: Schwolow, Stein, Jaeckel, Aaronson, Volland, Laïdouni, Roussillon, Trimmel, KemleinOut: Khedira (calf), Schäfer (foot), Knoche (muscular)Coach: Urs Fischer
Braga: Matheus - Mendes, Saatçı, Niakaté, Borja - Zalazar, Horta (c), Al-Musrati, - Bruma, Banza, DjalóSubs: Tiago Sá, Horníček, José Fonte, Abel Ruiz, André Horta, Paulo Oliveira, Victor Carvalho, Adrián Marin, Rony Lopes, Pizzi, João Moutinho, André CastroOut: Gómez (thigh)Coach: Artur Jorge
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