DFB Cup – 1. FC Union travels to Bielefeld with one less problem

When 1. FC Union travels to Bielefeld this Tuesday to face Arminia on the Alm a day later, they will have one less problem in their luggage. Because the video referee (VAR) is not yet used in the second round of the DFB Cup, such bizarre discussions as on Sunday evening in the Alte Försterei cannot even arise. In the 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, the Berliners were denied their supposed winning goal in stoppage time due to an offside position by Christopher Trimmel. Union’s captain took it calmly: “If it’s offside, then it’s offside, that’s what we have the line for,” Trimmel said succinctly about the video evidence.

Benedict Hollerbach had a lot more to say. And the Union Berlin striker roamed through all football spheres. “I know the third league well,” warned the 23-year-old about Arminia. Hollerbach scored 18 goals in 96 third division games at SV Wehen Wiesbaden until the summer of 2023. Union had to prepare for an opponent who was strong in running and fighting, he said. And here’s to a very self-confident team: Third-placed Bielefeld are heading towards promotion.

Better than in the Clásico

From the depths of German football, Hollerbach’s words led directly to one of the sport’s biggest duels: Real Madrid against FC Barcelona. During Barca’s 4-0 win, he observed on the screen that most of the low shots on goal were unsuccessful. So Hollerbach tried a “lob” a day later in the Bundesliga – and scored beautifully against Eintracht in the 66th minute. Frankfurt’s early lead after 14 minutes through Mario Götze was equalized and fully deserved.

“It’s hard to score goals,” said Hollerbach after his second goal of the season on matchday eight – and thus entered one of the most discussed football fields. He called the video referee’s disallowance of Tim Skarke’s second Berlin goal “scandalous”: “People want to see goals. You can’t get out a ruler and take away such a beautiful goal because of one centimeter. That’s not in the spirit of football.”

Fair technology

If Hollerbach had followed his emotional explanation with a statement against the video evidence, it would have become an opinionated statement. But as it was, he dribbled almost naively: “I would like the VAR decisions to be decided in favor of the striker when in doubt.” The technology is supposed to do exactly the opposite: not to decide for or against someone, but to create justice. Apart from many understandable criticisms of the video referee system, the offside rule works quite well.

The Berliners have to blame themselves for having given away the victory. After a weak first half hour, Union dominated the action on the pitch. Coach Bo Svensson later specifically praised his team’s performance “in the very good second half.” Left-back Tom Rothe should have hit the goal from five meters in the 35th minute.

Second best defense

With the draw, the Berliners climbed to fourth place. The basis for the good start to the season is the defensive stability regained under Svensson. With only five goals conceded, Union has the second-best defense in the league. A homegrown player has also played a large part in this: since the strong Aljoscha Kemlein replaced Lucas Tousart alongside Rani Khedira in the midfield center, the defensive framework has held up like it did in the best Urs Fischer days. Frankfurt’s Omar Marmoush, at the top of the top scorers table with nine goals, was nowhere to be seen in Alten Försterei for 90 minutes.

What Union is still missing was also visible on Sunday evening. The Berliners are still not creating enough of a goal threat in terms of play, perhaps because they are still missing a striker. In the last quarter of an hour, despite being in the majority, they were unable to find any convincing offensive solutions. And accuracy can still be worked on. Horst Heldt’s words were all the more astonishing. “We lost two points, the referee will take them home,” said the sports director, criticizing the “millimeter decision” against Union in the supposed winning goal: “It’s really embarrassing to complain about that.” Some people found the performance of the club to be at least inappropriate Heldt. Luckily, the game in Bielefeld is played without VAR.