Bayern’s job for away game at Union Berlin to ‘fight and win three points’

FC Bayern are away at Union Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday (kick-off at 6.30pm CEST, live coverage on fcbayern.com and in the FC Bayern app with our text commentary and free web radio). The Munich club have never lost in nine league meetings with the side from Köpenick. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in the capital.

Check out the best photos from final training on Friday:

State of play

The race for the Bundesliga title came to an end last week as Bayern had to congratulate Bayer Leverkusen on their success. For Thomas Tuchel and his team, now it’s about securing second place in the table ahead of VfB Stuttgart – currently level on points – and preparing for the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid. As happy as they were after the 1-0 win at home to Arsenal during the week, the players now need to “get themselves into a mental state where they’re ready and will take on the Union game in the way is needs to be. There are still points to play for in the Bundesliga. The season isn’t over yet,” Tuchel said at his press conference.

On the back of victories over Arsenal and Köln last weekend, Tuchel made it clear exactly how many points he wants to bring back from the capital: “We’re going to Berlin to battle, to fight and win three points.”

Read more from Tuchel at his press conference here:

Opponent: Union Berlin

It isn’t that long ago that Union were looking forward to two games against Real Madrid. An incredible 2022/23 campaign saw them qualify for the Champions League for the first time ever and come up against Los Blancos in the group stage. However, this season has been a bit of a reality check, and at one point they sat bottom of the Bundesliga table. The Köpenick club have since battled their way back up to 13th in the standings, but they aren’t safe yet. Back-to-back defeats have seen their cushion over the play-off spot shrink to just three points.

One step towards safety would be a first win of this season against a top-five team. The Irons have so far lost all nine such fixtures in the Bundesliga. “We’ve always had chances against the big clubs, but unfortunately weren’t clinical enough in front of goal,” said Union coach Nenad Bjelica, who still has faith in his team despite their equally long winless record up against Bayern. “There’s always a first time. We’re confident we can do it.”

Read up on the facts ahead of the game:

Team news

Bayern will likely make the trip to Berlin without Leroy Sane, as Tuchel confirmed on Friday. Serge Gnabry (hamstring), Kingsley Coman (adductor), Sacha Boey (hamstring), Bouna Sarr (ACL) and Tarek Buchmann (muscular) are also all out.

The home side are only without Jakob Busk on Saturday. Yorbe Vertessen, Jerome Roussillon and Josip Juranovic have all trained again and will “get some minutes”, according to their coach.

Gnabry resumed running training during the week:

What the coaches say