The horror series continues: Union Berlin’s former high-flyers have also lost their ninth game in a row and are facing an early exit in their historic first Champions League season. Coach Urs Fischer’s team lost 0-1 (0-0) to the Italian champions SSC Napoli in the atmospheric Olympic Stadium despite a good performance and is still eagerly waiting for the first point in their premier class premiere.
Giacomo Raspadori (65th) hit right in the heart of the Köpenickers, who are sliding ever deeper into the crisis. After the last-minute knockouts at Real Madrid (0:1) and against Sporting Braga (2:3), progress seems a long way off. For Fischer, who recently received public support, this is by far the most difficult phase of his five-year term in office. Napoli are in second place in Group C with six points behind Real (9).
Union starts boldly
Fischer had previously promised that his team would approach the game with “confidence, with positive energy” despite the weeks of negative spiral – and the Berliners, where the ailing national player Robin Gosens got fit in time, started courageously and with a desire to have possession of the ball.
Jannik Haberer (3rd) and Diogo Leite (6th) recorded their first shots early on. After around ten minutes, the guests got into the game better, and the game initially developed into an even game without any dangerous scenes in the penalty area.
After 25 minutes, the Olympic Stadium shook for the first time when Haberer pushed in a cross pass from David Fofana for the supposed lead – but the passer was just offside.
Kwarazchelia initially logged out
Naples had little offensive in the absence of the injured Victor Osimhen, and the exceptional Georgian player Khwitscha Kwarazchelia was also not a factor. The Köpenick team were defensively compact and were waiting for a counterattack. Fofana failed from a tight angle to SSC keeper Alex Meret (37th), a long-range shot from Rani Khedira (39th) flew past the goal to the left a little later.
Even after the break, the Iron team remained the more active team, but Fofana’s (48th) shot from the second row was too harmless. Union pressed high and repeatedly managed to win the ball quickly, but the decisive idea was missing. Naples limited themselves to transition moments.
The game became more heated after about an hour and there was no real flow of the game due to many small fouls. Raspadori then scored from nowhere to make it 1-0 for the guests.
The Berliners were visibly shocked; they initially found no answer. They only became dangerous again in the final phase. A header from Robin Knoche (80′) narrowly missed its target.