Union vs Hertha descended into CHAOS last year as players held back ultras at Bundesliga’s first Berlin derby for 42 years
Perhaps it’s a good thing there won’t be any supporters at the Berlin derby on Friday night…
Last time Hertha and Union met, back in November, it was the German capital’s first derby in the Bundesliga for 42 years.
And it got ugly.
Union Berlin ultras tried to approach Hertha Berlin players at full-time
Union are the first club from the old east Berlin ever to compete in the German top-flight, as of this season, so it was a pretty historic occasion.
Their fans are as passionate as the come, and usually in all the right ways. But they crossed a line last year.
What happened?
The game had to be stopped after flares were thrown on to the pitch and Union supporters invaded the playing surface to confront Hertha’s players.
Smoke from the flares made it almost impossible to see the action
Flares let off by home supporters made it almost impossible to see as the game came to a halt, which led to 10 minutes of injury-time.
Union won the contest in dramatic fashion thanks to Sebastian Polter’s 87th minute penalty, which lifted the newly-promoted club up to 14th in the league.
Despite winning the game 1-0, Union’s masked ultras confronted Hertha’s players at full-time.
Incredibly, Union’s players, most notably goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz, had to try and talk their own fans down.
Flares were thrown on to the pitch
Union manager Urs Fischer was keen to focus on football after the game and felt his side were deserved winners.
He said: “I really liked today, especially the first-half.
“It was a convincing performance. At no point did I have the feeling that we were letting the game slip away.
“At the end we were a bit happy with the penalty, but we spent over 90 minutes trying to win the game. That’s why it’s a well-deserved win for me on the whole.”
We’ll be able to focus on the football when the two clubs meet on Friday night – LIVE on talkSPORT 2 – given the match will take place behind closed doors.
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