While press spokesman Christian Arbeit was adjusting his headphones next to him, Nenad Bjelica was already getting started. The coach of 1. FC Union Berlin didn’t need any translation at the press conference after the 2-3 defeat in the last group game of the Champions League against Real Madrid.
Bjelica spent six years as a player in Albacete, Sevilla and Las Palmas and even though that was around 30 years ago, the polyglot Croatian still speaks excellent Spanish. “Real only rotated a little, they played a very serious game. They respected us,” Bjelica said.
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Union earned respect several times in its first Champions League season, but there wasn’t much that came out of it. The Berliners’ conclusion was correspondingly ambivalent. Bjelica paid his team a great compliment and also included his predecessor Urs Fischer, who had led Union into the biggest club competition in the world. However, the Champions League was also a “school” for his players, who were inexperienced at this level.
Rani Khedira explained in more detail what his coach meant by that. “It was more possible,” said the midfielder, referring to the late goals conceded in both games against Real and in the first duel with Braga. These bitter defeats and the meager return of just two points can be explained not only by bad luck, but also by naivety.
We had beautiful moments for the whole club and historic moments for the fans.
Rani Khedira about Union’s first season in the Champions League
“At this level, little things matter and we made too many mistakes in this competition,” said Khedira. Especially since the team didn’t manage to win in Braga despite being in the lead and having the advantage for 60 minutes. “Then maybe you don’t deserve more.”
The six games were still a unique experience. A bit of melancholy could be felt on Tuesday around the Olympic Stadium, which was unpopular with Berlin fans but was sold out in all three games. Take it all in one last time, because who knows if you’ll ever experience that again. Union in the Champions League, it still sounds unreal. “We had beautiful moments for the whole club and historic moments for the fans,” said Khedira.
Now Union can, now must, concentrate fully on the relegation battle in the Bundesliga and an extreme contrast awaits the Berliners. Tuesday in front of more than 70,000 fans against Real Madrid, the most successful football club in the world, Saturday scratching and biting in the Ruhrstadion against VfL Bochum. “I would have liked to continue playing in Europe,” said Bjelica. “But now we have two games against direct competitors and we will do everything we can to stay in the Bundesliga.”
The team now seems mentally fresher again
Despite the first defeat under the new coach, Union wants to take self-confidence with them for the games against Bochum and four days later against 1. FC Köln. “We saw against Real that we can keep up with opponents like that,” said Bjelica. However, the Croatian also knows that “completely different games” await his team.
Against the Spaniards, Union walled themselves in with a five-man chain in their own penalty area for long stretches; in the Bundesliga they need more of the courage that was seen in the 3-1 win against Gladbach last Saturday. The trend now speaks in favor of Union. The team seems mentally fresher after the end of the long negative series and that can be clearly seen on the pitch.
In the three games under Bjelica, Union scored six goals, previously it was a measly two in eight games. Sheraldo Becker returned against Real after a month-long injury break, and Benedict Hollerbach, who was not registered for the Champions League, is also expected to be back in the starting line-up in Bochum.
“If you see how active and aggressive we played against Gladbach and that we looked good at times today against the best club team of all time, that should give you a boost,” said Khedira.