To be able to look back on several hundred Bundesliga games and still be considered inexperienced by many observers. How does that work? The answer is: be an assistant coach. Babak Keyhanfar and Alexander Zickler can tell you all about it. Keyhanfar, assistant to Bo Svensson at the 1. FC Union. Zickler is Marco Rose’s assistant at RB Leipzig. Between them they have played 329 Bundesliga games, only a handful of them as the main man in charge on the sidelines. Since this Saturday afternoon, there have been two more games.
Because just as little strange as the 0-0 draw between RB Leipzig and Union Berlin was, the circumstances that emerged before kick-off were just as strange. The duel between the two unbeaten teams also became a duel between the assistant coaches. On the Leipzig side, ex-professional Zickler stood in for the yellow-red suspended Rose, and on the Berlin side, Keyhanfar stood in for the ill Svensson.
Svensson had hoped to be on the sidelines until the very end
Svensson missed the press conference before the game because of an infection. Until Saturday morning, Union had hoped that the Dane would be fit in time and travel to the game, but instead of adrenaline on the sidelines, Svensson was still stuck in bed.
Svensson was able to observe from his bed at home how little influence the coaching oddity had on the Berlin team, perhaps with great satisfaction. One week after the Union women caused a surprise in the DFB Cupthe men pulled off another coup in front of 47,800 spectators. Against the Leipzig team, who had not lost a point up to that point, it was not only goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow who paved the way to the point win.
Not surprisingly, Keyhanar’s team left the ball to Leipzig. Union itself concentrated on defending. It was not without reason that the coach changed the team in three positions compared to the 2-0 win against St. Pauli. Andras Schäfer, Laszlo Benes and Tim Skarke came into the starting eleven for Lucas Tousart, Yorbe Vertessen and Jordan. The Berliners wanted to rely on a more defensive cover and at the same time be dangerous with counterattacks.
Recommended editorial content
Here you will find external content selected by our editors that enriches the article with additional information. You can display or hide the external content with one click.
I agree to the external content being displayed to me. This means that personal data can be transmitted to third-party platforms. You can find more information about this in the data protection settings. You can find these at the very bottom of our page in the footer, so that you can manage or revoke your settings at any time.
And so RB Leipzig dominated the game in the first 45 minutes. For almost the entire half, everything beyond the halfway line was foreign territory for the Berlin team. Just as foreign as the ball. The Berlin team only had around 20 percent possession. But just as the ball was rarely at their feet, Union’s players were often attempting to slide tackle.
Leipzig’s fast combination play was countered with tough tackling. And with success. Leipzig’s skilled technicians around Luis Openda and Xavi Simons often found no way out of the Berlin defensive thicket.
Union also wanted to put its stamp on the game
But Union was not really up to the task of attacking. They went into halftime without a single shot on goal. As good as their defense was, there was still a lot of room for improvement in their forward movement.
The coaching team had recognised this and Union came out of halftime changed. Not in terms of personnel, but in terms of attitude. The Berliners ran higher, created more penalty area opportunities and showed more courage. A double substitution in the 56th minute underlined the impression that Union now wanted to put their own stamp on the game. Jordan and Yorbe Vertessen brought on two fresh attacking players.
A few moments later, it seemed to pay off. After a Vertessen corner, Tom Rothe rushed in in the 58th minute and headed the ball powerfully towards the RB goal. Peter Gulasci was just able to direct the ball over the crossbar. The best chance for Union.
But after that, RB became more dominant again. In the 72nd minute, the hosts’ spell seemed to have been broken. Once again, the quick Openda ran away from the Berliners. When he reached the penalty area, the Belgian fell.
After contact with Kevin Vogt, referee Sven Jablonski awarded a penalty. However, despite how strong the Belgian international Openda was in using his speed, he shot the penalty weakly. Union keeper Frederik Rönnow had no problem scraping the ball out of the corner.
Except for a dangerous free kick in injury time, which the Dane also just managed to clear out of the goal, the Berliners were able to withstand the pressure for the rest of the game. And just as the game began with a curiosity, so it ended: In the ten Bundesliga matches between RB and Union so far, there was always a winner, never a draw. That is now over.
