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Swiss coach Urs Fischer's Union may only have a few years of
Bundesliga experience and operate on a fraction of their
opponents' annual budget but his team have now gone 11 games
without defeat, stretching into last season.
With their 10 points from four games -- as many as leaders
Bayern -- they have set a club record for their best season
start and their run comes on the back of a strong previous
campaign that saw them finish fifth, narrowly missing out on a
Champions League spot.
Union this season have picked up where they left off and after
firing six goals past hosts Schalke 04 last week they have now
scored 11 in their four league games -- another club record --
with Sheraldo Becker joint top scorer in the Bundesliga with
four.
Only Bayern have scored more goals in the league so far with 16
but following a powerful first three games they slipped up last
week with a draw against Borussia Moenchengladbach.
They did bounce back in midweek with a 5-0 demolition of
third-tier Viktoria Cologne in their German Cup first round on
Wednesday with coach Julian Nagelsmann rotating his squad.
He now has even more options with Leon Goretzka scoring in the
Cup on his comeback from injury.
"We are trying to bring all players to one level so that we can
choose and change accordingly," Nagelsmann said. "I want to pick
and choose things from players without having any drop off in
performance."
Bayern are obviously favourites against Union, having expanded
their attacking options following the departure of top scorer
Robert Lewandowski.
With 26 goals in six games across all competitions so far this
season few would bet against their awe-inspiring attack that
includes Sadio Mane, Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry,
Thomas Mueller and Mathys Tel.
But Union, who have yet to beat Bayern in the Bundesliga, hope
their own fairytale run continues.
"You have the impression that it's a bit of a fairytale and I
need to pinch myself now and again," Union sports director
Oliver Ruhnert told SportBild magazine.
"There were a lot of people who said that after our promotion
(in 2019) there would be a year of holiday and then we'd go
straight down again."
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)
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