robilaz

Woop! It's been quite the journey, but maybe a little quicker than I expected? But once you get into Bundesliga it's pretty easy given the finances available.. There's more to come though!

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 34 | Sweet Sepúlveda Ruprecht Prusseit had led Union Berlin into a strong position, leading Bundesliga by 10 points heading into 2038. But he was keen to avoid another end-of-season slump that had handed titles back to Bayern Munich in the last two seasons. The new year began with a massive club record sale. Striker Michael Storskov was now Union's Champions League starter having been usurped by top scorer Claudio Sepúlveda, was 26 and had 18 months on his contract. So when Newcastle came in with a £65m offer he bit their hands off. And Prusseit replaced him with 17-year-old Paraskevas Goulas for £3m from Frankfurt. Maintaining A Strong Start Union began 2038 with a trip to bottom side Mainz and duly thumped them 5-1 led by a four-goal haul by top scorer Claudio Sepúlveda. Next was a huge game as leaders Union took on 2nd-place Bayern, who they'd still only beaten once in 31 meetings in this save and Prusseit had never beaten in 12 games. Bayern bossed the early stages but midfielder Samuel Pereira chose the perfect time to score his first Union goal, drilling home from 20 yards. Bayern equalised straight after the break but Prusseit's side held them off to earn a 1-1 and retain their 10-point lead. That big draw was backed up by edging a 2-1 at Gladbach then beating Stuttgart 3-2 led by a Sepúlveda hat-trick. The Chilean scored the only goal at home to St Pauli then two goals in a 2-2 at Leverkusen. That saw him move past 30 goals for the season and break Ahmed Ramadam's Union record of 28 league goals in a season. And on the same day, Dortmund beat Bayern 2-1. Claudio continued to live up to the moniker "Sweet Sepúlveda" as his brace earned a 2-0 win at 17th-place Hoffenheim then scored the only goal at home to 14th-place Nürnberg. But he was seemingly the only Union player who could score, which showed as he got injured and they drew 0-0 at Freiburg while all the other top-five sides also drew. Champions League Progression Union came into the final two games of the league phase with a three-point gap to 9th place. With Liverpool away to come, a home game against Villarreal was vital. And they delivered as a Miroslav Milosevic double sealed a 2-1 win. They also did fairly well at Liverpool, only losing 2-1. And that was enough to book their place in the top eight by one point - and five places above Bayern. That sent them straight through to the last 16, where they got one of the better draws against Villarreal. However, a few injuries struck before the away leg and they got thumped 5-2 and a 2-1 home loss saw them exit with a bit of a whimper in the round of 16. A Bayern-Less Title Battle? Union came into the final eight games of the season with an eight-point lead over Leipzig and a 13-point gap back to Dortmund, Bayern and Wolfsburg. Surely this time the title was heading to East Germany one way or another? But Union again had a tricky run of games coming. Game 1 - Köln (6th, home): Sepúlveda was still missing and they weren't looking good as Köln took the lead after half an hour. But his replacement Fredrik Fossdal headed home his first goal of the season to equal then Milosevic finished from a tight angle to nick a 2-1 win. And all the other top five sides also won. Game 2 - Hertha (6th, away): Hertha were the form team in Bundesliga heading into the Berliner Derby but had Nicolas Makhloufi sent off for a two-footed challenge after just six minutes. Winger Leandro immediately gave Union the advantage only for Hertha to equalise after half an hour. But Union took control after the break with Satoru Iida and Sepúlveda strikes before Leandro added a late fourth. Leipzig also won to keep the gap at eight points. Game 3 - Wolfsburg (5th, home): The tough run continued with another in-form side as Wolfsburg came to town. Sepúlveda scored again after half an hour but Wolfsburg dominated the second half and got a deserved equaliser just before the hour. Leipzig scored a 93rd-minute winner at Hamburg to close the gap. Game 4 - Leipzig (2nd, away): That teed up a huge potential title decider as leaders Union travelled to 2nd-place Leipzig with a six-point lead. But that became three points as Union put in a terrible performance and lost 1-0 to a goal by 35-year-old Ilaix Moriba. And they lost Sepúlveda to injury again. Game 5 - Arminia Bielefeld (15th, home): They faced another first half of frustration against a poor Bielefeld team. But Prusseit laid into the team at half-time and immediately got his reward as Bruno Rodríguez scored his first goal in five months. Leandro added a second before Rodríguez doubled his tally to seal a 3-0 victory. Later that day, Leipzig drew 0-0 at home to Dortmund, so Union grew the game back to five points with three games remaining. Game 6 - Hamburg (14th, away): Leipzig hammered Mainz 4-0 the day before Union went to Hamburg. But Union responded with Sepúlveda and Milosevic goals either side of half-time before Hamburg got a late consolation. Game 7 - Dortmund (4th, away): The toughest game of the run-in took Union to Dortmund and, yet again in a big game, they didn't come close to showing up. Dortmund got a dodgy penalty then scored their first three shots on target, dominated the second half and won 4-0. While Union offered very little despite their lofty xG. However, later that day, Leipzig went to Bayern and were equally bad, losing 3-1 with former Union player Omar Nzeyimana scoring twice, which trebled his tally for the season. So in the most unconvincing circumstances, Union Berlin were Champions of Germany!! And Union Berlin were the first-ever East German club to win Bundesliga!! Union celebrated their success in front of their jubilant fans at Stadion An Der Alten Försterei the day after Prusseit's 54th birthday. And they did so in style as Sepúlveda scored once and laid on the other two for his attacking partners Milosevic and Rodríguez in a 3-1 win over Frankfurt. That saw Union win the title by five points from Leipzig, who leapfrogged Bayern to make it an OstDeutscher one-two on the final day! Impressively, Union only conceded 24 goals all season, while 64 goals was a little on the low side compared to the 76 and 75 they managed in the previous two seasons. And the title success bagged them a cool £110m. The key man behind this success was Sepúlveda, who was the second-top scorer in Bundesliga with 34 goals in 32 games - only bettered by Hertha's Jeremy Dierickx scoring an outrageous 37 in 29! Also crucial was Lee Kwang-Sun keeping 16 clean sheets. They also had five players - Lee, Cláudio Borborema, Rogério Poulos, Rodríguez and Milosevic - in the Bundesliga Team of the Year, Prusseit won his third Manager of the Year in five years and Pereira won Rookie of the Year. East Germany's First Bundesliga Winners This was an unprecedented season in German football history as Ruprecht Prusseit became the first manager to lead an East German club to the Bundesliga title. He was a little concerned about their inability to compete with big teams away from home, but that couldn't detract from an excellent achievement with an exciting Union team. The star man this season was obviously Sepúlveda, who broke the club's league goals in a season record and finished with 38 in 40 and a 7.52 average rating in all competitions. Also impressive were his attacking colleagues Milosevic, who scored 12 and got 12 assists in 39 games, and Rodríguez, who got a club-high 15 assists plus a slightly disappointing four goals. Stalwart midfielder Grga Picak got 10 assists and four goals with a 7.28 average rating and there were solid performances by fellow midfielders Iida and 6ft 6in Pereira, who only scored one goal despite targeting set pieces at him. While goalkeeper Lee and full-back Rogério Poulos also impressed. But Prusseit was concerned about the performances of the rest of his defensive players. To add to the great season, Prusseit also got his first good youth intake in years. The pick of the bunch was winger Fágner, along with another winger Giuseppe Menozzi, striker Matteo Righini and full-back Besnik Dragusha, none of which were German... Could Union build on East Germany's first-ever Bundesliga success? And could they go further in the Champions League?

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 33 | Record-Breaking Form Ruprecht Prusseit needed a little time away from football after seeing his Union Berlin miss out to perennial Bundesliga champions Bayern München on the final day for a second season in a row. But he came back to work refreshed and eager to take Bayern down. He came into the summer of 2037 with the club's bank balance standing at £232m. That was boosted by selling underperforming players like midfielder Gerhard Seibert to Monaco for £11.25m, centre-back Mikalus Mraz to Nice for £6.75m and full-back Mathias Nilsson Morsing to Valencia for £12m. However, they also lost promising centre-back Jean-Paul Vogt to Man City for a club record £45m. More exciting talents arrived in their place starting with smashing the club's transfer record to sign right-back Zé Serrao for £38.5m from Braga. Prusseit also toughened up the midfield with massive 6ft 6in ball-winner Samuel Pereira and brought in a promising goalkeeper in 17-year-old Danny Johnston for £2.5m from Freiburg. Prusseit's thinking time early in the summer also saw him decide to ditch the dull two holding midfield formation he'd used for the last couple of seasons. He now had exciting attacking full-backs and attackers that could play wide or centrally, so he initially decided to go with a narrow 4-3-1-2 with a Trequartista in behind two strikers but also considered a 4-3-3 approach. Into Bundesliga Season 6 Union Berlin are finally fancied for a top-half finish with a prediction of 8th and odds of 33/1. Bayern are obviously favourites at 4/5 having won 24 of the last 25 titles, followed by Leipzig (11/2), Dortmund (8/1), Freiburg (16/1) and Leverkusen (18/1). Union began at home to promoted Mainz and the new formation looked pretty good as they dominated by 17 shots to six. But it took them a while to get the goal they deserved with Miroslav Milosevic's penalty followed by Serrao creating a tap-in for Bruno Rodríguez. That earned the new right-back player of the match on his debut but he obviously then suffered a hernia in training. Another home game followed and they kick on a level as striker Claudio Sepúlveda put the Gladbach defence to the sword with all four goals in a 4-0 victory. But their first away day of the season took them to Prusseit's hated champions Bayern. An edgy game saw Bayern have the better chances but get a player sent off early in the second half. Milosevic's 20-yard strike looked to have claimed a first win over Bayern only for the champions to again score a late goal to nick a point. Prusseit decided to start Sepúlveda in the league games and Michael Storskov in Europe. And Sepúlveda justified that decision with three consecutive braces to edge a 3-1 win at Stuttgart, a more dominant victory at home to Leverkusen and a 3-0 win at St Pauli. Next up was derby day as Hertha came to town and Sepúlveda settled for one goal before Milosevic sealed a 2-0 victory. And Union kept the good times going as Storskov came off the bench to score a last-minute winner at Nürnberg and Leandro repeated the feat at home to Freiburg. Then even a rotated side eased to a 2-0 win at Arminia Bielefeld thanks to another Sepúlveda brace. And that saw Union win a new club record 11 consecutive games in all competitions. Champions League League Phase Union got a kinder set of fixtures for their second season in the Champions League, with the opening day and final day trips to Porto and Liverpool posing the toughest tests. However, Union made light work of their first game, going to Porto and scoring with every shot on target to win 5-0 led by a Storskov brace and Markus Ambrosius' first goal for the club. Next up they hammered Poznan with 21 shots to three but relied on Storskov's goal just before half-time for a narrow win. But they were more clinical at Rennes as they scored five for the second away game on the bounce, this time with Storskov scoring all five in a 5-2 victory. Union were taking the Champions League by storm as early Grga Picak and Leandro goals set up a 3-0 win over Feyenoord, which took them top of the league above Real Madrid and Barcelona! Another home game followed against 33rd-place Brest, who've finished 2nd to PSG three times in a row, but Prusseit had to rotate and they did well to draw 0-0. But a much better performance in Austria saw them dominate Wolfsberger by 26 shots to zero and won 3-0 led by a Storskov brace. That sees Union sitting 2nd, three points clear of 9th place with two games remaining. Storskov is the tournament's top scorer with 10 goals and has the highest average rating of 8.22. Surprise Top Of The Table Clashes Ten games into Bundesliga, Union had only dropped points once in a superb start to the campaign. Elsewhere, Bayern actually dropped points as they lost at home for the first time in three seasons and the second time in eight seasons in a 2-0 defeat to St Pauli, drew with Stuttgart and Hertha then lost 3-2 at Freiburg. That teed up a couple of slightly surprising top-three clashes as Union went to Wolfsburg then hosted Leipzig. The top two played out an exiting game with 32 shots, 19 of which went in Wolfsburg's favour. But few of those threatened the goal and an own goal settled the game as a Wolfsburg defender turned home Sepúlveda's harmless cross. Leipzig had the better of the next game, with 13 shots in the first half without finding a way through. But Union were pretty toothless despite creating more in the second half and the two sides settled for a 0-0. And Prusseit had to be happy with two clean sheets. However, Union's long 16-game unbeaten run ended with a 1-0 defeat at Köln, who climbed to 2nd in the league. And later that day, Bayern lost again 3-1 at Hoffenheim! The run of highly unentertaining games continued as Sepúlveda ensured Union bounced back with a 1-0 win at home to Hamburg - making it two goals scored and one conceded in four games! The striker was at it again as Union entertained Dortmund. He latched onto a long hoof clear by Lee Kwang-Sun and headed the ball over the keeper from 25 yards for the opener! He added a second 10 minutes before half-time then wrapped up a perfect hat-trick just after the hour mark to seal a huge 3-1 victory. Union wrapped up 2037 with a 2-1 win at Frankfurt thanks to a rare Satoru Iida strike and Storskov's late winner. While 2nd and 3rd place Bayern and Köln drew 1-1. That saw Union open a huge 10-point lead heading into a month-long break. Sepúlveda is the top scorer in the league with 18 goals along with a league-high six player of the match awards and second-best 7.51 average rating. While Lee has a league-high 11 clean sheets, only conceding in six matches! Union's Youngsters Rewarded Union maintained their grip on the FIFA Best U21 Men's Player as Milosevic won the award with a clean sweep of the top three as last year's winner Rodríguez in 2nd and Sepúlveda in 3rd. Then a surprise decision saw backup Slovenian midfielder Anton Çerne win European Golden Boy. Could Union maintain their lead at the top of Bundesliga and become the first-ever East German champions in 2038?

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 32 | 15-Year Reflection Fifteen years into life as a Football Manager, Ruprecht Prusseit had worked his way up from the sixth tier of German football to challenging at the top in the big time of the Bundesliga. So the summer of 2037 feels like a good time to reflect on the manager's progress and how other OstDeutscher sides are faring. Prusseit's Managerial Progress Over the last 15 years, Prusseit has racked up solid experience taking charge of 628 matches with five clubs: SV Dessau 05, 1. FC Lok Stendal, Hansa Rostock II, Energie Cottbus and Union Berlin. In those games, he has a 55% win percentage, with 337 wins, 162 defeats and 113 draws. While his teams have scored 1,144 goals and conceded 735. During that time, Prusseit has gained five promotions, won four league titles, won three cup competitions and suffered one relegation. He spent no money until he joined Union, where he's already spent £254m and made £314m in sales in six years. Now 53 years old, Prusseit has earned £6.75m over the last 15 years, which isn't too shabby for a football-loving kid from Dresden. OstDeutscher Sides' Progress Prusseit was keen to take a deep dive on where all the playable teams that began as options in his OstDeutscher adventure had fared over the last 15 years. So, sorted by their ranking at the start of the save, here's how all the East German teams have progressed. Wismut Gera: Wismut Gera began in the sixth-tier German Thuringia League and won promotion to the German Division North-East. And they've been there ever since coming close to promotion with three second places, but they've dropped firmly back into mid-table. 1. FC Lok Stendal: Prusseit's second club Stendal began the save in the sixth-tier German Verbandsliga Saxonia-Anhalt. He managed them up in the fifth-tier German Division North-East and, after spending a few seasons down in tier six, they returned to tier five in 2034 and remain there. Magdeburg II: Also began in tier six German Verbandsliga Saxonia-Anhalt and are currently in the fifth-tier North-East division with Stendal. SV Dessau 05: Prusseit started his career with Dessau and led them into tier five in his first season then suffered relegation after two seasons in tier five. Things have not gone well since. Dessau were relegated into non-league in 2028 and returned in 2030 but dropped back into non-league in 2034 and haven't returned since. Bizarrely, they still have two of Prusseit's first crop of players in winger Aluong Yaak and centre-back Karamoko Sylla, who've both played over 450 games for the club. VFC Plauen: An early rival of Prusseit's in his Dessau and Stendal days, Plauen began in the fifth-tier German Division North-East South. They gained promotion to Regionalliga Nordost in season four and stayed there for four years before dropping down into tier five for four years. But they gained promotion in 2036 and remain in tier four. Hansa Rostock II: Prusseit's third club began in the fifth-tier Oberliga Nordost. In 2028, Prusseit led them to win the fourth-tier Regionalliga, which they won again in 2033 but the B-team have since dropped back down into the fourth tier. Rostocker FC: Rostocker also began in the fifth-tier Oberliga Nordost, where they stayed for two seasons before being relegated to tier six. They stayed there for two years before dropping into non-league, where they remain now. 1. FC Frankfurt: Frankfurt were relegated from the fifth-tier Oberliga Nordost and stayed there for 14 years. But they suffered relegation from German Brandenburg-League last season, so are now a non-league club. SV Babelsburg 03: Began in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Nordost and stayed there for six years before relagation to Oberliga. They gained promotion in the second season and remained in Regionalliga for seven seasons but were relegated back to tier five last season. Berliner FC Dynamo: Started in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Nordost and remained there until 2035 when they were relegated to Oberliga, where they've finished 7th for the last two seasons. Carl Zeiss Jena: Jena also began in Regionalliga Nordost but have fared better than Babelsburg and Berliner. They won Regionalliga Nordost in the first two seasons and gained promotion in the playoff second time around. They spent five years in the bottom half of 3. Liga before being relegated to Regionalliga and remained there until winning the league to return to 3. Liga last season. Chemie Leipzig: Stayed in Regionalliga Nordost for 11 seasons before relegation to the fifth tier in 2033, where they remain now but are favourites to win the league. Chemnitzer: Chemnitzer are one of the biggest success stories in the region. They began in Regionalliga Nordost and stayed there until 2032 when they won the league to climb into 3. Liga. They were relegated in their first season then spent three seasons back in tier four. But they won Regionalliga again in 2036, then finished 6th in 3. Liga which, as a result of B teams, was enough to reach 2. Bundesliga this season! Energie Cottbus: But the big success story is Cottbus. Prusseit's fourth club began down in tier four Regionalliga Nordost then got back-to-back promotions in 2026 and 2027. They swiftly dropped back down the leagues and Prusseit joined them back in tier four then led them to back-to-back promotions again in 2030 and 2031. They stayed in the second tier for two seasons, dropped back to 3. Liga but gained promotion in 2035. They finished 5th in 2. Bundesliga in 2036 before two mid-table finished. Lokomotive Leipzig: Lok Leipzig stayed in Regionalliga Nordost until 2034, when they won the league to reach 3. Liga. And they've recorded three mid-table finishes in tier three. Rot-Weiß Erfurt: Began in Regionalliga Nordost but were relegated in season two. They spent one season down in tier five and remain in Regionalliga Nordost now, frustratingly finishing second in the last three seasons. Dynamo Dresden: Dresden began in 3. Liga and were promoted to 2. Bundesliga in 2025. But they suffered back-to-back relegations and were one of Prusseit's big rivals in tier four at Cottbus. They got back into tier three in 2031 and have twice been promoted back to 2. Bundesliga, from which they were relegated last season. And they're huge favourites for 3. Liga. FC Erzgebirge Aue: Stayed in 3. Liga for six seasons before relegation in 2028 and they remain in Regionalliga Nordost. Hallescher FC: Hallescher were relegated from 3. Liga in the first season and remain in Regionalliga Nordost, where they've become a lower mid-table club. FSV Zwickau: Zwickau started the save well by finishing 3rd in 3. Liga and gaining promotion in the first season. They stayed in 2. Bundesliga for three seasons then spent five seasons back in 3. Liga. But they were relegated in 2031 and remain a mid-table side in tier four Regionalliga Nordost. 1. FC Magdeburg: Magdeburg were relegated from 2. Bundesliga in the first season then spent several years yo-yo-ing between tiers two and three. But they gained promotion in 2027 and have remained in the second tier since, establishing themselves as a mid-table side. Hansa Rostock: Rostock are the only OstDeutscher team that didn't start in the top tier to have played in Bundesliga during this save. They spent the first seven seasons in 2. Bundesliga and gained promotion three times, only to be relegated in their first season in Bundesliga every single time. They finished 16th in Bundesliga last season but aren't fancied for promotion this season. RasenBallsport Leipzig: Leipzig remain one of the better teams in Germany, now considered the second-favourites for Bundesliga behind Bayern. They've finished 2nd eight times during this save, most recently in 2035. 1. FC Union Berlin: Prusseit's current club flirted with relegation from Bundesliga for many years before finally dropping into tier two in 2031. But their fortunes changed when they brought Prusseit in from Cottbus, winning 2. Bundesliga in 2032 then finishing 7th twice and 2nd twice in Bundesliga, plus winning the Europa Conference League in 2036. So most East German sides have struggled through this save, but the likes of Rostock, Dresden, Cottbus and Chemnitzer, as well as Leipzig and Union, offer some semblance of hope for the region.

Yepppp, the relentless machine!

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 31 | Bundesliga Title Battle The rise of Union Berlin had seen the club top of the league heading into 2037, raising hopes that they could become the first-ever team from East Germany to win Bundesliga. They'd also performed well above expectations in their first six Champions League fixtures. The new year began with unhappy winger Lucas moving back to Brazil with Sao Paulo for £7.2m. But another Brazilian arrived in his place as full-back Rogério Poulos joined for a new club record £15.5m from Flamengo. Attacking depth was boosted with striker Fredrik Fossdal for £3.5m from Bødo-Glimt and much-needed German talent in winger Markus Ambrosius for £5.5m from Karlsruhe. Strong Start To 2037 The new year began with Union making the trip to city rivals Hertha and they never really got going in a dull 0-0 draw. Later that day, Bayern obviously won at Wolfsburg to move level on points with them. Another tricky game followed at home to Leverkusen but a brace from striker Miroslav Milosevic got them back to winning ways. Prusseit's former senior club Hansa Rostock was eventually defeated 3-1 with late goals by substitutes Claudio Sepúlveda and Leandro. An easier run of games continued as they thumped Nürnberg 4-2 before Sepúlveda scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 win at Freiburg and a brace in a 3-2 win at home to Gladbach. Milosevic got in on the act as he scored both in a 2-1 win at Frankfurt and a 2-0 win at struggling Schalke. Then a rare set-piece goal saw Jean-Paul Vogt score the only goal at home to St. Pauli. While a miracle happened and Bayern dropped points after Christmas as they drew at home to Leverkusen and at Hertha. And an eight-game winning streak had moved Union into an exciting position heading into the final eight games. Champions League Progression? Union had performed well in their first-ever Champions League campaign but had two really tricky fixtures remaining. First, they made the trip to Paris to face reigning champions PSG, who had a 33-year-old Jude Bellingham in midfield. They got well and truly dominated and found themselves 4-0 down after an hour but a Milosevic strike then a Michael Storskov gave them a little hope before conceding a late fifth. Next was the final game at home to a ridiculously strong Chelsea team that topped the league and had a player worth £316m! But an impressive effort by goalkeeper Lee Kwang-Sun kept Chelsea out and Milosevic nicked an unlikely win with a 79th-minute penalty. That secured a pretty respectable 13th place that took Union into the playoff stage. In the playoff round, they drew AC Milan, who'd signed former Union winger Jakub Silny after 18 months at Barcelona. Union edged the first leg in Italy but couldn't finish their chances and were punished by a goal by old man Charles De Ketelaere. They were much the better team back in Germany but were wasteful yet again in a poor first half. Prusseit increased the intensity and they got level as Leandro collected the ball out wide, cut inside and smashed it past the keeper. But it finished 1-0 to go to extra time. Prusseit pushed his team up the pitch and increased the pressing on an old Milan team and it eventually made their dominance count as Leandro again popped up with a tidy finish. Milan offered nothing and Union deservedly progressed 2-1 on aggregate. Bizarrely, the home leg was played at Hertha's Olympiastadion and nearly trebled Union's record attendance and gate receipts as 62,816 people showed up. Yet the board don't see the need for a new stadium? However, Union's race was probably now run as they drew nine-time winners Liverpool in the last 16. It was pretty much over after a 3-1 home defeat as Liverpool's ridiculous striker scored a hat-trick and Union "broke their home attendance" again with 70,860 showing up. So Prusseit went defensive, rotated the team and they somehow only lost 1-0 at Anfield. But an exciting first Champions League adventure came to an end. Tough Bundesliga Run-In Heading into the final eight games of the season, Union found themselves top of Bundesliga with a four-point advantage over Bayern. However, for the second season in a row, their run-in was pretty brutal with six games against teams in the top eight. Game 1 - Köln (12th, home): One of the easier games in the run-in saw Union dominate by 14 shots to five. But Milosevic popped up with the only goal two minutes before half-time. Later that day, Bayern lost 2-0 at Freiburg so Union moved seven points clear! Game 2 - Wolfsburg (4th, away): However, Union lost both centre-backs Mikulas Mraz and Vogt, their replacement Papel and right-back Mathias Nilsson Morsing to training injuries in the following week. So Abdelkarim Belkacem dropped into defence for the first time at Wolfsburg and they fell to a pretty terrible 3-0 defeat. Bayern won 3-0 the next day to close the gap back to four points. Game 3 - Leipzig (3rd, away): It didn't get much easier with a trip to fellow OstDeutscher side Leipzig. But they first had to navigate an international break in which Prusseit was expecting more injuries and, really helpfully, Adolfo Ferreira bizarrely stayed on international duty past the weekend. Bayern played first and beat St. Pauli to pile the pressure on and it showed as Union's battered squad lost 3-2, which dragged Leipzig up into the title battle. Game 4 - Werder Bremen (18th, home): A week later, a must-win game saw a visit from Werder, who only had seven points. Mraz returned and they looked much more solid, racing into an early 2-0 lead thanks to a seven-minute Milosevic double. Centre-back Cláudio Borborema added a third and Union eased to a 3-1 win. Bayern edged a 1-0 win at Schalke to stay one point back. Game 5 - Bayern München (2nd, away): Bayern had only lost one game at home in six seasons, so that seemed unlikely based on Union's recent away days. Their quality showed as they battered Union in the first half but couldn't find a way through. They finally struck in the 87th minute to a goal that looked offside but, against all the odds, Union countered to equalise through a rare goal from the out-of-form Storskov. However, scummy Bayern - who apparently were immune to tiredness after their Champions League game - struck again in the 92nd minute to go top. And Prusseit was furious because that was probably the title gone again. Game 6 - Stuttgart (7th, home): Union got back on track thanks to two more out-of-form players. Bruno Rodríguez scored a double either side of opposite winger Grga Picak's first goal in six months. Bayern won 2-0 at Köln the day before. Game 7 - Hamburg (8th, away): Union ensured the title fight would at least go to the final day as Rodríguez and Picak scored again in a dominant 3-1 win at Hamburg. The next day, Bayern hosted 3rd-place Leipzig and hammered them 4-2 (despite another Champions League semi-final in midweek) to stay two points clear. Game 8 - Dortmund (4th, home): Union's brutal run-in concluded at home to Dortmund while Bayern had an easy three points at relegated Werder. Union started terribly, conceding a goal that looked miles offside and Bayern scored in first-half injury time. So Prusseit made five changes just after the break, which worked as Fossdal scored his first goal then Storskov and Belkacem missed sitters. And they couldn't find another goal so drew 1-1, while Bayern won 3-0 anyway to wrap up yet another title. So Union finished 2nd for a second season, winning £95m in the meantime. But Prusseit was a little frustrated about their end-of-season form, taking 10 points from their last eight games while Bayern won all of their last seven, and a host of his players going through a poor conclusion to the campaign. Reflecting On Another Solid Season Union impressed for long periods this season but ultimately their inability to beat the other teams at the top of Bundesliga and, ultimately, Bayern's irritating ruthlessness, remains their downfall. However, Prusseit had to remind himself of the massive potential at the club despite the disappointment of missing out on the title again. Milosevic topped the goalscoring charts with 21 in 47 followed by Sepúlveda with 20 in 41, but both tailed off hugely at the end of the season. While Storskov was poor this season, only scoring 11 in 38. Picak led the way with 16 assists, which won him fans' player of the season, followed by Rodríguez's 14, but the latter only got two after Christmas.

Hahaha yeaaa, super easy!!

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 30 | Union Berlin In Champions League Union Berlin enjoyed the best season in club history in 2035/36 as they finished in a record high of 2nd in Bundesliga and won their first major trophy as Ruprecht Prusseit led them to the Europa Conference League. Now they had to step up to the challenges of competing in the Champions League for the first time. Union came into the new season with £155m in the bank and a bumper £82m transfer kitty. Furthermore, Prusseit's board was so happy with his efforts that they handed him another new contract on £35k a week until 2040. They also announced plans to increase the stadium capacity by 5,000 seats to 27,515. Despite the finances available to him, Prusseit didn't see a need to go out and spend it all. However, he did move to lock down players like striker Michael Storskov, midfielders Satoru Iida and Abdelkarim Belkacem, full-backs Ali Anani and Mathias Nillson Morsing and centre-back Mathias Ammermann, who then went out on loan, to new contracts. He then strengthened his defence with left-back/centre-back Papel for a club record £13.5m from Fluminense and right-back Nicolás Quiroga for £2.5m from River Plate. They were joined by exciting midfielder Adolfo Ferreira for £9m from Club América. Prusseit's plans were dealt a blow as Arsenal, Bayern and Juventus met the £40m release fee of winger Omar Nzeyimana and the treacherous so-and-so obviously chose Bayern. But getting £40m for a player 12 months after paying £625k is impressive. Prusseit recalled wonderkid Leandro from his loan spell in Mexico that's definitely aided his progression. But it's fair to say that Prusseit had developed a deep hatred for Bayern after they nicked his best two players and their ridiculous unbeaten run last season. Prusseit was now locked into the 4-2-4 approach he'd implemented successfully last season. Miroslav Milosevic was deployed as a false nine behind main man Storskov with Iida and Belkacem in the holding roles. Fifth Season In Bundesliga Union had well and truly established themselves in Bundesliga but they were still only fancied to finish 10th with title odds of 33/1. Bayern, who haven't lost since December, are now Evens followed by Leipzig (7/1) and Dortmund (17/2). Season five in Bundesliga began with a Berliner Derby as Union entertained Hertha. They got a great start as Iida scored inside three minutes and doubled his tally just before the break, which doubled his Union goal tally in his previous 117 league appearances! Centre-back Mikulas Mraz made it 3-0 after the break before Hertha got two undeserved goals back. Another local rival followed with a visit from promoted Hansa Rostock and Union thumped them 4-0 with goals by centre-back Jean-Paul Vogt, strikers Milosevic and Claudio Sepúlveda and winger Grga Picak. A first away day saw a tricky game in Leverkusen but another solid defensive effort earned a fortunate 0-0 before a 2-0 win at Nürnberg and 1-1 at Gladbach. Prusseit's decision to commit to two up top was working nicely, as proven by Storskov and Milosevic both bagging braces in a 4-1 thumping of Frankfurt. That result moved them top as Hertha did them a favour by drawing 0-0 at Bayern and they stayed there as Leandro's first goal back at the club nicked a 2-1 win at home to Freiburg. Winger Bruno Rodríguez defended his FIFA Best U21 Men's Player in October and celebrated with a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win at St. Pauli. And he scored again as a Picak double inspired a 4-2 win over promoted Schalke. Then a Storskov double downed 10-man Wolfsburg 2-0 to take Union 20 Bundesliga games unbeaten. And, after 10 games, that had Union five points clear as Bayern lost for the first time in 26 games at Gladbach. Union Berlin's Champions League Debut Union Berlin's first-ever taste of the Champions League saw them go into the main league phase. They got a decent set of fixtures including games against Anderlecht, Viktoria Plzen and Feyenoord but tough trips to Arsenal and PSG and a home game against Chelsea. And it's fair to say no-one fancied Union, with odds of 600/1 to win it! Prusseit and Union's first Champions League game was at home to Anderlecht. They started well and eventually got their reward as Leandro's first two assists for the club created goals for Rodríguez and Storskov. A tougher first away day followed but Union upset the odds as the exciting Sepúlveda's second-half hat trick inspired a 4-1 win at Valencia. Feyenoord at home was up next and Union did well to hold them to a 0-0 before their toughest game yet, as they lost 3-0 at Arsenal. A more winnable away game took them to Czech Republic and Rodríguez created two goals in two minutes for Storskov and Leandro before a late Picak strike sealed a 3-0 win. Prusseit had to rotate at home to Galatasaray and his team delivered as a Lucas brace and another Sepúlveda strike earned a vital 3-1 victory. That left Union just outside the top eight heading and realistically safe in the top 24 heading into their final two games. Tricky Run Of League Games Union came into the final few games of 2036 as surprise leaders and still undefeated in Bundesliga. Quickfire goals from two of their South American contingent, centre-back Cláudio Borborema and Sepúlveda, earned a 2-1 win at struggling Köln and extended their lead at the top to seven points as Bayern drew with Freiburg. But now the fixtures got tricky. First up was fellow OstDeutscher side Leipzig and they played out a dire 0-0. An easier game followed at bottom side Werder Bremen and they eased to a 4-0 win through Iida, Rodríguez, Sepúlveda and Ferreira's first senior goal. That set them up for a huge game with a visit from 2nd-place Bayern, who Union hadn't beaten in 20 meetings over 10 years. Union had the better of the first half only for Bayern to take a completely undeserved lead in stoppage time. Prusseit continued to push, threw subs on and they eventually got their reward as Sepúlveda got the equaliser seven minutes from time. Another tough game followed at 3rd-place Stuttgart. Prusseit dropped goal-shy Storskov and was rewarded as the increasingly impressive Sepúlveda ran riot with a hat-trick alongside Milosevic scoring and getting two assists in a 6-1 hammering that demonstrated how good this Union team had become. The duo of Sepúlveda and Milosevic scored again to defeat Hamburg 3-0 before a huge final game of the year. Union went to 7th-place Dortmund still unbeaten but their 26-game streak ended with a narrow 2-1 loss. That left them two points clear of Bayern at the halfway point of the season. Rodríguez is the best player in the league with a 7.53 average rating while he and Picak have eight assists only bettered by the nine of Stuttgart's Henrique Pereira. Union's promising starlets were shining bright. But the most exciting may be Sepúlveda, who won the European Golden Boy after scoring 20 in 31 through 2036, including 12 in 19 this season. While Rodríguez, who won the award the previous year, has an incredible 7.53 average rating of 7.53 in 23 games.

Yep, I don't think we're too far off challenging them for trophies!

Thanks! Yeaaaah, cracking season, the Union bus is well and truly rolling!

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 29 | Chasing A First Major Trophy Unfancied Union Berlin found themselves on the verge of a title challenge as they came into 2036 just two points off the top of Bundesliga with multiple games in hand. Key to that prospect was holding onto their star players despite the likes of Grga Picak and striker Michael Storskov attracting attention from across Europe. Prusseit also added to his squad with pacey 18-year-old centre-back Cláudio Borborema arriving from Palmeiras for £8.5m. Can Union Maintain Their Challenge? Union had nearly a month away from league matters but returned with five games in two weeks as they played catch-up on their rivals. They looked a little rusty at 9th-place Gladbach but earned a draw through strikers Miroslav Milosevic and Storskov. One of their three games in hand saw 15th-place Nürnberg come to town and they tarted poorly by conceding inside 90 seconds. But they dominated the game and eventually turned things around with second-half goals by Picak and winger Kevin Starke. Three days later, they entertained 16th-place Hoffenheim and goals by Starke, holding midfielder Abdelkarim Belkacem and winger Lucas sealed a comfortable 3-0 win. A second game in hand swiftly followed at 14th-place Köln and a Storskov goal nicked a cagey game 1-0 to move Union three points clear with one more game in hand remaining. And the busy spell ended with a seven-goal thriller at Leverkusen, which Union edged led by a Milosevic brace. Prusseit got to rest his squad ahead of a big Berliner Derby at home to Hertha. Union made a flying start as Milosevic drilled home from the edge of the box after 70 seconds. Hertha grew into the game after the break, missed a couple of big chances and were made to pay as a stunning Picak pass sent Storskov through to seal a 2-0 victory, despite missing a late penalty. A Tricky Run Of Games The strong start to the year continued as a Storskov brace downed St. Pauli 2-0 and took him to 20 goals for the season. But their good form ended with a 4-2 defeat at 7th-place Wolfsburg in which Storskov picked up an injury. Prusseit passed 200 games in charge of Union in a big game at home to 3rd-place Frankfurt. And Storskov's replacement Claudio Sepúlveda delivered on his first Bundesliga start with a second-half brace to inspire a 3-2 victory. Another tough game followed as Union went to 5th-place Dortmund and lost 2-1 in a really poor performance. A good chance to put that loss behind them came at home to bottom side Arminia Bielefeld. They dominated the game but left it late as Lucas and Sepúlveda edged a 2-0 victory. Europa Conference League Knockouts Union drew Cypriot side AEK Larnacas in the round of 16. They went to Cyprus first and a concerning defensive performance was bailed out by wingers Picak and Bruno Rodríguez sealing a 3-2 win. They were dominant back in Berlin and a Lucas double was enough for a 2-0 victory. Bødo-Glimt followed in the quarter-final and a Sepúlveda hat-trick inspired a 3-0 win in Norway then a fully rotated team won 2-0 at home through Sepúlveda and Lucas. Another Scandinavian side followed in the semi-final as Union took on København. A trip to Denmark was up first and midfielder Gerhard Seibert's screamer and winger Omar Nzeyimana's penalty earned a comfortable 2-0 win, which took them past the Conference League record of 48 goals this campaign. And Rodríguez came off the bench to add one more for a 1-0 win in Berlin. Union Berlin were heading to the Europa Conference League Final! Tight Bundesliga Title Race With eight games remaining, Union trailed the seemingly invincible Bayern, who'd won 10 on the bounce since the start of the year, by three points with a game in hand. Realistically, Union had already improved their best finish under Prusseit of 7th and the club's all-time best finish of 5th set back in 1971. Game 1 - Hamburg (8th, away): The run-in began with Storskov returning from injury to score a six-minute hat-trick and Milosevic ended a 10-hour goal drought in a 4-2 victory. The next day, Bayern won their 11th on the bounce 2-0 at Stuttgart. Game 2 - RB Leipzig (5th, home): Union hadn't beaten Leipzig in six games since Prusseit's first clash with them and that's their only win in the side's last 22 meetings. Bayern made it 12 in a row, thumping Paderborn 4-0. Leipzig had their right-back sent off then scored their first shot on target while Union failed to put their chances away. But the game swung on a terrible sub as Mraz headed home a corner then Lucas scored twice in three minutes to claim all three points for his team. That sealed the club's highest-ever finish and first Champions League qualification. Game 3 - Köln (13th, away): Possibly the most winnable game saw Köln come to town and take the lead after 25 minutes. But Storskov stepped up with two goals either side of halftime to lead a 2-1 victory. Bayern won a 13th straight 3-1 at Hamburg. Game 4 - Bayern (1st, away): The title race could swing on a trip to 13 successive wins Bayern. Former Union player Nico Korte gave them a potential opportunity when he got sent off in first-half injury time. Union still struggled to create anything against 10 men but at least stopped Bayern scoring to keep their lead at three points. Game 5 - Freiburg (6th, home): Union came out firing as Storskov and Milosevic made it 2-0 inside 17 minutes. Seibert added a third after the break before Nzeyimana rattled in a penalty to crown a thumping 4-0 win. The next day, Bayern won 2-1 at Köln. Game 6 - Stuttgart (10th, away): Union's game in hand took them to Stuttgart and Rodríguez's 44th-minute strike nicked a 1-0 win which, combined with Lee Kwang-Sun making eight saves, moved them level with Bayern with two games remaining. Game 7 - Nürnberg (13th, away): Union realistically needed another three points as Bayern won 1-0 at home to Leizpig the day before. But they struggled at Nürnberg, who had the best of the game with 15 shots to seven but neither side found a way through and it ended 0-0. Game 8 - Wolfsburg (5th, home): A week later, the title came down to the final day with Bayern leading Union by two points. Union hosted Wolfsburg while Bayern hosted Freiburg. Union struck first as Mikulas Mraz headed home a corner but quickly fell 2-1 behind. Prusseit fired the team up and they responded Borborema's first goal for the club and Seibert fired them back in front 10 minutes later. But, just as he did, Jamal Musiala put Bayern in front and added a second late on. So Bayern won the title. Union finished 2nd just two points behind Bayern, which earned them a huge £95m. Their tally of 83 points was a new record tally without winning the title, after only losing three times all season and finishing a huge 16 points clear of 3rd-place Frankfurt. Storskov was third-top scorer with 22 goals, Rodríguez topped the assists chart with 12 followed by Picak on 11 and Lee's 14 clean sheets was only bettered by Bayern's Costa with 22. Europa Conference League Final Union Berlin's first-ever cup final saw them take on Lyon in the Europa Conference League Final at Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna. Prusseit had a full bill of health so lined up: Lee; Nilsson Morsing, Mraz, Borborema, Anana; Iida, Seibert; Picak, Rodríguez; Storskov, Milosevic Subs: Sepúlveda, Reitz, Vogt, Belkacem, Nzeyimana, Lucas, Ammermann, Starke, Kunert, Sahin, Juanpa, Ostermann Union came out on the front foot and had two decent chances well saved. But they eventually got their reward as Storskov latched onto a delicious through-ball by Mathias Nillson Morsing, controlled it superbly and slammed home at the near post. Lyon offered even less after the break, only mustering one shot on target, and substitute Nzeyimana made sure of the win from a late corner. Union Berlin won the Europa Conference League! Celebrating Union's Greatest-Ever Season This was undoubtedly the greatest season in Union history, recording their best-ever league finish and winning their first major trophy. Prusseit was delighted with how the season had gone and really pleased with his squad's ability to fight on domestic and continental fronts and push a big-spending Bayern so close. Storskov again led their goalscoring chart with 27 goals in 47 games. But there were much more contributions from elsewhere with Sepúlveda scoring 20 followed by Milosevic (19), Picak (15), Lucas (13) and Nzeyimana (12). Rodríguez was their leading assisted with 16 followed by Storskov (15), Picak (12) and Nzeyimana, Starke and Nilsson Morsing (9). The achievements further strengthened Prusseit's belief that he was working with the best young squad in the world. And the strength of young talent at the club was confirmed by left-back Ali Anani winning NxGn 2036 with Nzeyimana in 5th. Could Ruprecht Prusseit build on the best season in Union history? And how would they fare in their first Champions League campaign?

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 28 | European Golden Boy Union Berlin wrapped up back-to-back European campaigns for the first time in club history as they sealed a second successive 7th-place Bundesliga on the final day of 2035/35. And manager Ruprecht Prusseit was excited for the future as he secured the signings of some serious hot prospects that he felt gave him potentially the best young squad in Europe. Union were also looking good off the pitch as the board cleared the club's outstanding debts. The bank balance ticked up to £118m with a transfer budget of £63m and weekly wage budget of £758k, of which Prusseit was using just £470k. The summer began with 34-year-old goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, who was the only Union player aged over 26, heading back to Denmark with Kobenhavn at the end of his contract. Prusseit also moved on players that weren't up to it, bringing in £18m for wingers Gonzalo Abreu and Dúvier Canizalez, striker Dominic Frerking, centre-back Kresten Vilfort and both left-backs Ori Kanuk and Marcel Müller. While young striker Leandro went to Club América on loan. Some serious talent arrived in their place, starting with eight players arriving when the transfer window opened. The pick of them was probably 19-year-old Chilean striker Claudio Sepúlveda, who cost £3.5m from Colo-Colo, along with wonderkid winger Omar Nzeyimana, who arrived for just £625k from Mamelodi Sundowns. 6ft 5in South Korean keeper Lee Kwang-Sun replaced Hermansen for £2.4m from Jeonbuk, while bigger outlays saw striker Miroslav Milosevic join for £6.25m from Red Star and centre-back Jean-Paul Vogt arrived for £11.25m from Feirense. Also worth keeping an eye on are winger Bruno Rodríguez, who cost £4.6m from Peñarol, and full-back Juanpa, who joined on a free from Junior FC. The squad was now looking in a really good place, with every first-teamer having at least 3.5-star potential and 14 having 5-star potential. Prusseit was considering a tactical change, moving to a 4-2-4 or a 4-3-3 both utilising two holding midfielders, keeping last season's successful 4-3-3 in his back pocket. But he was leaning towards the 4-2-4. Back Into Conference League Qualifiers Union were back in the qualifiers for the Europa Conference League, which began against Cypriot side Omonoia. The first leg in Cyprus was up first and a Grga Picak brace got them started before Vogt headed home on debut to seal a 3-1 victory. Nzeyimana got a start in the second leg and scored twice in the first 17 minutes before midfielder Gerhard Seibert wrapped up another 3-1 win. Next up was Serbian side Vojvodina and strikes by Picak and holding midfielder Satoru Iida sealed a 2-0 home win. And a Milosevic double back in his homeland earned a 3-2 defeat and 4-3 aggregate win to reach the league phase. Flying Start To Bundesliga Season Four The bookies had Union down to finish 13th with odds of 200/1 to win the league. Bayern remain huge favourites at 4/9 then Leipzig at 11/1, Stuttgart at 16/1 and Dortmund at 18/1. Strangely, Union again began the season with three consecutive home games. They kicked off against Gladbach but went behind after 19 minutes and were 2-0 down after an hour. Milosevic got one back with a penalty on his first start then winger Lucas came off the bench to score twice in nine minutes and seal a thrilling 3-2 victory. Milosevic scored again, this time off the bench, to nick a 1-0 win over Leverkusen then Iida scored the only goal against St. Pauli. Prusseit had started the season with the 4-2-4 and it had worked nicely, so he stuck with it for a big first away day as they travelled across the city to Hertha. The hosts dominated the game but Union nicked a set-piece goal through Mikulas Mraz and held on for a third 1-0 on the bounce. That briefly took Union top of Bundesliga for the first time until Bayern ruined their fun. A perfect start was disrupted by new keeper Lee suffering a lower back stress fracture. But that didn't affect them at Hoffenheim, as last season's heroes Picak and Michael Storskov scored their first league goals of the season in a 2-1 win, then at Frankfurt. Union had been clinical so far but took that to new levels at home to Dortmund. Picak got the show started with a goal after six minutes then his brilliant run and cross laid on the second for Storskov before scoring his second inside half an hour. A crazy few minutes of injury time saw Dortmund score twice before Picak went down the other end to make it 4-2 in the 50th minute! Milosevic settled any nerves six minutes after the break before Dortmund got another back. Union even had three goals disallowed by VAR but settled for a thumping 5-3 victory, which was their first over the "big two" of Bayern and Dortmund. An international break followed but Union maintained the momentum with Picak, Milosevic and Storskov all scoring again in a 3-2 win at bottom side Arminia Bielefeld. So eight wins from eight games and they still weren't top thanks to Bayern! However, they did go top despite the winning start halting with a 2-2 draw at home to Stuttgart rescued by a late Nzeyimana penalty. They stepped up the attacking threat at promoted Paderborn, racking up 4.55 xG as Milosevic opened the scoring before a Storskov hat-trick, all assisted by Rodríguez. However, Prusseit was concerned about their defensive efforts as they just edged a 4-3 victory, including conceding twice in the last five minutes. Europa Conference League League Phase Union got a tougher draw than last season, with fixtures against Lyon, Bodø-Gimt and København, but they should still have enough about them to qualify. They began at home to Antwerup and new boys Sepúlveda and Nzeyimana sealed a 2-1 opening win. A trip to Iceland to face Brei∂ablik followed and a heavily rotated side breezed to a 3-0 win. The toughest game saw Lyon come to town and another rotated side dominated with Sepúlveda scoring again before Picak and Storskov came off the bench to wrap up a comfortable 3-0 win. A trip to Norway followed and Union failed to win a league phase game for the first time at the 10th attempt as they drew 0-0 with Bødo-Glimt. Two weeks later, they returned to Scandinavia and brushed København aside 3-0 with goals by Sepúlveda, Seibert and Lucas. The league phase concluded by hosting fittingly named Faroese side B36 Tórshavn, who were 36th out of 36. Prusseit sent the lads out with an attacking approach and boy did that work. Union raced into a 10-0 half-time lead and settled for seven more after the break with Seibert, Milosevic and Nzeyimana hat-tricks and a Sepúlveda double hat-trick, including four in a seven-minute period, as they won 17 (Seventeen)-0! Unsurprisingly, Union topped the league phase with 16 points, 28 goals and just one conceded to advance to the knockout phases. Tackling A Tough Run Of Fixtures A stellar start to the season saw Union Berlin top of Bundesliga after 10 games. But they faced a tough run of fixtures as the winter break edged closer. First up, Hamburg visited Stadion An Der Alten Föresteri and were brushed aside by close-range Picak and Storskov goals. But an international break saw key defender Mraz injured ahead of a big trip to Leipzig. And they lost their 11-game unbeaten start with a 3-2 defeat that Leipzig should have won by more. Next up was a really tough game as Union welcomed 2nd-place Bayern, against whom they have an abysmal record. In 25 meetings in this save, Union have won one, lost the other 24, conceded 63 and scored just 16. And Prusseit had lost all six of his meetings with the champions. Prusseit prepared by resting his first 11 for a midweek DFB-Pokal game, which they lost 3-2 to Leverkusen, while Bayern played their strongest team - yet magically still had a fully fit team. But Union had the better of a fairly even game and got their reward as Storskov tucked home just after the break. And they appeared to be edging towards a huge win until, out of nowhere, Alphonso Davies scored a 30-yard screamer for an undeserved 94th-minute equaliser. Because of course he did. But on the positive side, that was Prusseit's first point against Bayern. Union returned to winning ways with a 2-0 success at 8th-place Freiburg with goals from the deadly front two of Milosevic and Storskov. That took them into a month-long winter break in a really strong position, especially as Bayern lost 2-1 at Leipzig then 3-2 at Freiburg. Those two games both took place after Union's trip to Freiburg as their European involvement again saw several games cancelled. As a result, they found themselves in 3rd place, just two points behind leaders Frankfurt and one point off Bayern with three games in hand on both! Storskov again leads the club's scoring charts with 15 in 25, of which 18 are starts, and worryingly is now wanted by the likes of Juventus, Milan and Spurs. But a key player has been his strike partner Milosevic in the deep-lying role, given he's scored 13 in 20 with a 7.38 average rating. Prusseit's claims about having the best young squad in Europe were given some clout as impressive centre-back Mraz won FIFA Best U21 Men's Player, with holding midfielder Iida in third, then the exciting Rodríguez became the first-ever Union player to win European Golden Boy. Could Prusseit continue Union's strong league form and mount a challenge to Bayern's crown?

For sure! Especially with the new signings (below), picking up some great young talent

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 27 | Europe's Top Marksman Some bizarre league form had seen Union Berlin competing towards the top of Bundesliga with a perfect home record and atrocious away record. But a first taste of European football had seen them breeze through an easy set of Europa Conference League league phase matches. January saw disappointing news as winger Jakub Silny joined Barcelona for £25.5m on deadline day after centre-back Ali Salameh moved to Wolfsburg for £850k. Prusseit had taken the plunge and increased Union's scouting range to worldwide after the summer transfer window. The first results of that increased capacity were promising Algerian left-back Ali Anani for £2.5m from MC Alger and centre-back Matheus Andrade for £4.6m from Cruzeiro. Prusseit had to move quickly to replace Silny and again turned to Cruzeiro to sign the rapid Lucas for a new club-record £11.5m. Breaking The Away Hoodoo Union resumed their Bundesliga campaign with a mass of games in hand thanks to some odd scheduling. And they kicked off 2035 with two home games in four days. First up, Hamburg bossed the first half but couldn't find the breakthrough and Union took advantage after the break with goals by top scorer Michael Storskov, Silny and Samadeh. Then two goals in four minutes by Storskov and right-back Mathias Nilsson Morsing edged a tight game against Hoffenheim in their favour. Storskov won a penalty that midfielder Gerhard Seibert converted then went on to wrap up a 20-minute hat-trick to seal a superb 5-0 thumping that took Union to an incredible nine wins out of nine at home! But could Union reverse their away fortunes? Three opportunities to do that were up next, starting with a tricky trip to 6th-place Leverkusen. Union played well, limiting Leverkusen to minimal chances and nicking a lead through winger Kevin Starke, only for Salameh to throw away two points with a 72nd-minute own goal on his final appearance. That was a step in the right direction ahead of a trip to bottom-of-the-league Werder Bremen, where they finally snapped the away hoodoo as midfielder Grga Picak's 85th-minute strike nicked a 1-0 win. And Union made it two away wins on the bounce by dominating 17th-place Fortuna Düsseldorf as Picak's early screamer and two Storskov tap-ins earned a 3-1 victory. Bizarre Bundesliga Scheduling That strong start to the year saw Union shoot all the way up to 5th in Bundesliga. But the string of good away results ended with a 2-1 loss at Stuttgart, which was part of a five-game away streak that ended with a 1-0 loss at Leipzig. And a third straight defeat followed 1-0 at home to Dortmund, which ended Union's perfect home form. However, that was the first in a run of four straight home games! And that helped them get back on track with three successive 1-0 wins over Köln, 5th-place Freiburg and Nürnberg, in which Storskov scored his 30th goal of the campaign. He went on to bag a brilliant hat-trick in a 4-1 hammering of Hoffenheim away, which saw him break Ahmed Ramadan's club record of 31 goals in 2031/32. And that moved Union back up to 5th heading into the final eight games. That began with another three-game away streak, which began with a 1-1 at St. Pauli. Prusseit's 500th game in management came in a trip to Gladbach and another Storskov goal earned another 1-1 draw before an impressive defensive effort earned a 0-0 at 2nd-place Wolfsburg. But back on home ground they excelled as Storskov scored his second hat-trick in five league games and his 11th goal in the last 10 games to defeat Werder Bremen 4-1. That teed up a thrilling four-way battle for the final European places with Union in 5th two points clear of Leverkusen in 8th. However, Union's run-in was very tough. Union began the run-in at Frankfurt and a solid defensive effort earned a 0-0, which dropped them 7th as Freiburg and Stuttgart both won. Next up was Bayern at home and Lukas and Storskov goals had them 2-0 up after 18 minutes, but a disappointing collapse saw Bayern come back to win 3-2. However, they responded in style by thumping city rivals Hertha 4-0 with goals from Seibert, holding midfielder Abdelkarim Belkacem, Storskov and Picak. Union went into the final day in 7th in an OstDeutscher clash at home to Leipzig. Union had the better of the game but both teams missed chances and drew 0-0. Elsewhere, Leverkusen beat Freiburg, which saw Union hold on to finish in 7th place and qualify for the Europa Conference League for the second successive season. And that again bagged them £62m in prize money. They ended the season with 14 home wins but just three away from home. Union had the Bundesliga's top scorer as Storskov scored 28 in 32. However, not only was he the top scorer in Germany but also across Europe, as the Dane won the European Golden Shoe! Storskov also came third in German Players' Player of the Year, while Belkacem won Bundesliga Signing of the Season and came second in Newcomer of the Year and Prusseit defended his Manager of the Year award. Europa Conference League Knockouts Union progressed straight to the last 16 of the Europa Conference League, where they were drawn with Swiss side Sion. And the big teams to look out for include Benfica, Everton and Real Betis. Union got the perfect start in Switzerland as Lucas scored his first goal for the club in a dominant 3-0 win. So Prusseit rotated for the home leg and exciting young striker Leandro scored both in a 2-0 victory. That sent them into the quarter-final, where they annoyingly drew Everton. A poor first leg saw the English side nick a 1-0 victory in Berlin before they deservedly won the return leg 3-2. Reflecting On Another Successful Season Prusseit was delighted with the progress his young team had made this season, again finishing 7th despite the distraction of playing European football alongside their league campaign. This season's star man was undoubtedly Storskov, who scored a new club record 41 goals plus six assists with a 7.45 average rating in 48 games. Also impressive were Seibert with 11 goals and 12 assists, Picak with nine goals and 10 assists and Starke with two goals and nine assists. A special mention has to go to goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, who equalled the club record of 22 clean sheets and only conceded 39 goals in 47 games, but will be leaving in the summer after agreeing a move back to Denmark. Union's efforts this season were impressive given half the squad were 21 or under and had potential of at least 4.5-stars. And a sign of that potential was having six players in NxGn 2035 led by winger Starke coming 2nd, as well as a future agreed signing and a few more players Prusseit had been chasing as summer recruits. Could Prusseit build on two 7th-place finishes and progress further in Europe next season?

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 26 | First Taste Of European Football Union Berlin enjoyed a strong second season in Bundesliga as Ruprecht Prusseit's young squad secured a 7th-place finish. At first, Union were told they'd missed out on European football due to Leverkusen winning the cup but, for some reason, Freiburg were bumped up to the Europa League and Union took their place in the Europa Conference League. The summer of 2034 began with a mini-saga as Bayern responded to not winning Bundesliga for the first time in 22 years by sacking Julian Nagelsmann after 12 successive league titles and three Champions League wins. The Bayern fans immediately instilled Prusseit as their favourite for the vacant job, but obviously Prusseit wasn't interested. Staying in Berlin, Union had £123m in the bank and a transfer budget of £54m. That was boosted as two key players of the Union rise departed, with Matej Lnenicka joining Rennes for £3.3m and Antonio Villalonga going to Benfica for £9.25m. Prusseit began investing that cash by continuing his focus on affordable young talent. First through the door were Israeli midfielder Ariel Atrash for £1.2m from Hapoel Tel Aviv, centre-back Sahin Guvenc for £2.5m from Besiktas and midfielder Kevin Starke for £5.25m from Leverkusen. Prusseit then broke the Union transfer record to sign holding midfielder Abdelkarim Belkacem for £8.5m from Feyenoord before centre-back Manfred Ammermann signed for £4m from Leipzig and winger Gonzalo Abreu joined for £2.5m from Peñarol. But the signing of the summer could be 18-year-old striker Leandro for £4.6m from Palmeiras who, Prusseit thought quietly to himself, could be the new Endrick. Despite those eight incomings, Hertha still ended the transfer window with £92m in the bank. And, with his transfer business done, Prusseit stuck with the 4-3-3 that worked well last season. Satoru Iida drops back into defence, Gerhard Seibert steps up as the playmaker and Belkacem and Abreu come in as starters. Prusseit's First European Football Prusseit's first taste of European football saw Union enter the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, which gave him his first taste of the snazzy new draws... First up was Willem II and a brace from last season's top scorer Michael Storskov earned a 2-1 victory in Holland before a 0-0 at home sent them through. They took on Maccabi Tel Aviv in the next round and another Storskov double earned a 2-0 win in Israel before a comfortable 3-0 home victory, which oddly saw a new club attendance low of just 14,000. And that eased them through to the Europa Conference League league phase. Third Bundesliga Campaign Begins The media still didn't fancy Union's chances, predicting them to finish 14th with odds of 250/1 to win the league. Bayern remain heavy favourites at 11/10 followed by Leipzig (6/1), champions Dortmund (15/2) and Leverkusen (14/1). Season three in the top tier began with a tough game at home to Leverkusen. Prusseit's defence held firm in a tight game while midfielder Grga Picak nicked the only goal just before the hour mark. But the new-found rigours of midweek and weekend games saw a knackered side lose 2-0 at Hamburg before a rotated side lost 3-1 at Nürnberg. They got back on track with a thriller at home to Stuttgart, in which Picak, Steibert, Storskov and Guvenc's first goals for the club earned a 4-2 victory. But a 2-0 loss followed at Dortmund, who had a front three of Reyna, Adeyemi and Bardghji... That saw an interesting trend developing as Union won all their home games and lost all their away games. That continued as a Seibert brace and Atrash's first goal for the club led a 3-1 win over Gladbach then they got absolutely battered by 34 shots to three at Bayern but only lost 2-1, with Leandro getting his first Union goal. Seibert and Storskov earned a 2-1 win at home to Fortuna Düsseldorf before - guess what? - a 2-1 loss at city rivals Hertha and a 3-1 win at home to St. Pauli thanks to a Picak strike and Storskov double. So after 10 games, Union had won five out of five at home and lost five out of five away! Union Get An Away Point (But Just The One!) The bizarre trend of losing every away game was snapped by Seibert's penalty earning a heavily rotated team a draw at Köln, before getting back to business as usual by losing 3-2 at Freiburg. But the perfect home form continued as back-to-back Storskov braces earned a 2-1 win over 3rd-place Wolfsburg and 2-0 win over struggling Frankfurt. The European schedule saw Union oddly miss a load of league fixtures. So they headed into a month-long winter break sitting 11th in Bundesliga but just three points behind 6th place Stuttgart with three games in hand. As the table below shows, Union have won all seven games but lost six of their seven away games! Europa Conference League League Phase Strangely, there was no fancy ceremony for the Europa Conference League league phase, but Union got a pretty easy-looking draw. Union began at home to Cluj, absolutely dominated the early stages and scored early through Storskov. But they somehow only won 1-0 after racking up 20 shots to zero! A similar story followed at Inter Turku as Union dominated but struggled to finish their chances until Storskov came off the bench to bail them out with an 87th-minute winner. Union stepped things up a notch with a 4-0 thumping of BATE Borisov. And the 100% record continued with back-to-back trips to Austria, winning 2-0 at Rheindorf Altach and 2-1 at Sturm Graz, which saw them qualify automatically with a game remaining. 2034 concluded by entertaining Motherwell and hammering them 4-0 with first-half goals by winger Jakub Silny, Picak, Storskov and centre-back Mikulas Mraz. That saw Union finish 3rd as one of four teams with a 100% record. And Prusseit couldn't help but feel this whole league phase concept seemed a really ridiculous idea. Nevertheless, Storskov is the competition's top scorer with 10 goals, Storskov has been exceptional so far this season, scoring 22 goals in 25 games with a 7.53 average rating, and winger Silny has been a surprise key performer with a club-high seven assists and a 7.22 average rating. How far could Union progress in the ECL? And could they finally win a league game away from home?

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 25 | Massive Record Sale Union Berlin had made a solid start to their second season back in Bundesliga. But Ruprecht Prusseit was keen to avoid the slump they suffered in the second half of last season after the winter break. However, 2034 began with some disappointing news as Bayern München met star right-back Nico Korte's £44m minimum release fee. Annoyingly, £12m of that went to former club Hansa Rostock but, on the positive side, that record transfer fee doubled the club's bank balance to over £50m. Backup centre-back Emiliano Otero also left for £1m to Argentine side Atlético de Rafaela then, on deadline day, 28-year-old centre-back Philipp Schulz joined Wolfsburg for £7.5m as he had 18 months on his contract and refused to sign a new one. The Korte deal went through after Prusseit had agreed deals that extended his transfer policy of signing inexpensive players with massive potential. Union's Scandinavian contingent was added to with right-back Mathias Nilsson Morsing joining for £2.5m from AGF and attacking midfielder Mads Vollesen coming in for £2.8m from Brøndby. Prusseit also snapped up Colombian winger Dúvier Canizalez on a free transfer from América de Cali then added depth with a few random loanees on deadline day. Looking To Climb Bundesliga 2034 began with the toughest test possible, a trip to 22-time reigning champions Bayern München, who'd just signed striker Riley Shackell for £124m from Chelsea! Prusseit's defensive approach and Mads Hermansen's 15 saves limited the damage to 2-0 after Bayern battered them with 35 shots to nine. But Union bounced back in dominant style with 25 shots to nine at home to Nürnberg, with striker Michael Storskov making two count to lead a 2-1 victory. The post-Korte era began with a trip to bottom-of-the-league Jahn Regensburg, who still only had three points. Storskov was on the scoresheet again after 16 minutes and Grga Picak doubled the lead before a late consolation. And they made it three wins on the bounce as midfielder Gerhard Seibert scored the winner in a 2-1 victory at home to Gladbach, who were in freefall having topped the league after seven games. Prusseit's 100th game in charge of Union was a big one as they travelled to fellow OstDeutscher side but, interestingly, not a local rival RB Leipzig. They caused no shocks in a 2-0 defeat but bounced back with a 2-0 win at Werder Bremen with Nilsson Morsing scoring his first goal for the club - which is one more than Korte scored! - before another Storskov strike. But another away defeat followed with a 2-1 loss at 5th-place Stuttgart. DFB-Pokal Latter Stages Union had progressed to the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals, where they faced a tough test at Wolfsburg. But Storskov continued his fine start to 2034 with two first-half goals to inspire a 2-1 victory. They probably got the best draw in the semis as they faced Leverkusen while Bayern faced Leipzig. Leverkusen started better and took advantage of it as a brilliant Wirtz pass sent their ridiculous striker through for the opener. Union came back into it but couldn't but their chances away and the hosts doubled the lead before gifting a consolation with a bizarre own goal. But on the positive side, Union bagged £2.92m for losing in the semis. Leverkusen went on to win the cup, defeating Leipzig 1-0 in the Final. How High Can Union Finish? Union went into the final 10 games of Prusseit's second Bundesliga campaign in 9th place on 37 points. The relegation concerns predicted by the media were long gone and they were six points off the European places. The run-in began with a tricky game at home to 2nd-place Wolfsburg but a strong defensive performance earned a 0-0. Another clean sheet followed as a Storskov goal was enough to down Arminia Bielefeld. That victory saw Union surpass last season's points tally of 39 so anything else now was a bonus. But could they reach even higher levels? Another point was added as a late winger Antonio Villalonga strike earned a 2-2 with 7th-place Frankfurt. Yet another tough game was up next as leaders Dortmund game to town and, for the second time this season, scored through an Adeyemi penalty. But Union stayed strong and Storskov nicked a deserved equaliser just before the hour for a second 1-1 with Dortmund this season. That gave Union confidence heading into a trip to 15th-place Hamburg, which they nicked 2-1 with an early Picak screamer then Storskov seized on some shambolic defending. Final Day OstDeutscher Excitement The win over Hamburg lifted Union into the European places for the first time with five games to go. A big test of those credentials came with a visit from 5th-place Freiburg and it wasn't looking good as Freiburg took the lead after 28 minutes. But the brilliant Picak levelled with a total fluke then, just as it looked to be drifting to a point apiece, played a delicious through-ball for loanee Robert Gruber to nick a winner. A winnable game followed at home to Köln and they delivered as a Storskov double, a Villalonga strike and centre-back Ali Salameh's first goal for the club inspired a 4-1 thumping. Three days after the Leverkusen semi, Union had another huge game as their final home game of the season saw out-of-form rivals Hertha cross town for the Berliner Derby. The game started poorly but Villalonga woke the fans up with a superb left-footed finish. Yet another Hermansen howler gifted Hertha's striker an equaliser but he was bailed out as Picak finished superbly before centre-back Mikulas Mraz headed home from a free-kick. That kept them three points above Frankfurt heading into two away games. First up was a trip to Leverkusen, where they were really unlucky to lose 1-0. Frankfurt beat Jahn Regensburg 1-0 to move the two teams level heading into the final day. So a win at already relegated fellow OstDeutscher side Hansa Rostock could seal European football. Union came out and dominated the first half with 15 shots to two but went into the break at 0-0. Prusseit fired the team up and got his reward as Villalonga slammed home then Salameh made sure of it by heading home a corner. Unfortunately, it was all in vain as Leverkusen's cup success meant Union missed out on Europe but they did bag £62m in prize money. Elsewhere, shockwaves reverberated around Germany as Bayern didn't win Bundesliga for the first time since 2012. They were usurped by Dortmund, the previous German champions in 2012, and even slipped to 4th thanks to being battered 5-1 at Leipzig! Reflecting On More Union Progression Storskov was the top scorer at the club with 21 goals in 33 games. But arguably their best performer and Prusseit's favourite player was Picak, who scored 11 and got 10 assists with a 7.30 average rating in 35 games. Villalonga chipped in with six goals and six assists, Seibert scored seven and got four assists, while winger Jakub Silny got 10 assists and Matej Lnenicka got nine from midfield. And the potential in the squad was confirmed by Silny coming third in NxGn 2034 with Mraz in 17th and loaned-out defender Kresten Vilfort in 42nd. Prusseit was absolutely loving his time in Berlin building an exciting, youthful and potential-packed team. So he had no hesitations in accepting a new contract that upped his wages to £20k a week until 2037. Furthermore, his efforts this season saw Prusseit win German Manager of the Year for the first time, weirdly ahead of Germany's assistant manager! What could Prusseit do with a sizeable transfer budget heading into the summer of 2034?

Strong choice! How are you getting on with them?

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 24 | Avoiding Second-Season Syndrome The progression of Ruprecht Prusseit as one of the best young managers around was confirmed as he led an unfancied Union Berlin side to survival in his first season in Bundesliga. But the Dresden-born manager was keen to progress both his managerial abilities and the club he was working with to avoid any suggestion of second-season syndrome. To get there, Prusseit knew he had to make sacrifices, such as cashing in on interest shown in his promising youngsters. Early examples of that were defender Jindrich Scasny and striker Valle Paavolainen, who'd signed for a combined £8 million 12 months ago, both drawing interest from big European sides. And Chelsea won the race for both, spending £12m on Scasny and £11.5m on Paavolainen. He also sold players with 12 months on their contracts who refused to sign new deals, which saw striker Ahmed Ramadan join Sampdoria for £3.3m and underperforming centre-back Younes Dias move to Monaco for £3.6m. Prusseit quickly reinvested by splashing out a club record £7.5m on exciting 18-year-old Sparta Prague attacking midfielder Jakub Silny. He replaced Scasny and Dias with 19-year-old Mikulaz Mraz for £800k from Slovan Bratislava. He also did deals to bring in former loanee Gerhard Seibert in for £3.5m from RB Salzburg and striker Michael Storskov for £2.5m from Kobenhavn, which may be the best deal of the summer. With those additions made, Prusseit decided to tweak his formation to a 4-3-3 with a flat three in midfield and Silny and Antonio Villalonga providing the width in behind Storskov. Into Bundesliga Season 2 Union's chances are rated slightly higher than last season, with a prediction to finish 16th and title odds of 300/1. Bayern are obviously favourites at 10/11 followed by Leipzig (8/1), Leverkusen (10/1), Dortmund (12/1) and Stuttgart and Freiburg (18/1). They began with a no-hope game at home to Bayern, but applied themselves well and only lost 1-0 to a ninth-minute strike. But an opportunity to get off the mark saw Jahn Regensburg come to town and Storskov got his first goal for the club before Grga Picak made it 2-0 inside 18 minutes. They settled for that and Prusseit was a little disappointed they didn't add a few more. Strangely, a third home game followed and they earned a 0-0 with Leipzig. Bizarrely, Union faced five away games on the bounce. That began with a 2-0 loss at early pacesetters Gladbach, in which Storskov got injured for the third successive game. Matej Lnenicka moved up front and earned a point at Nürnberg. Then the big one took Union to Hertha, where they lost 8-0 last season. This time they applied themselves better but got dominated and lost 2-1. They also got battered at 2nd-place Wolfsburg but a stout defensive effort after Picak's early strike earned a 1-1. But a slight tactical tweak, dropping Satoru Iida to a holding role, worked well as Picak and Mraz goals earned a 2-0 win at Köln. So after five away days, Union headed into the October international break - in which Storskov scored on his Denmark debut - in a respectable 12th place. They sat seven points above relegation trouble and only three points off the European places. Looking Upwards Pre-Christmas Union returned to action with a first home game in a month against 6th-place Werder Bremen. The newly monikered wonderkid Silny had a slow start to life in Germany but got his first goal for the club to earn a 1-1 draw. And another solid defensive effort and a penalty by loanee Robert Gruber earned an important 1-0 win at 15th-place Arminia Bielefeld. Another must-win game saw a first top-tier clash with fellow OstDeutscher side and newly-promoted Hansa Rostock. They started on the front foot with Storskov missing a sitter. But they soon took advantage of a strong start as Villalonga slammed home then Storskov tapped home from close range. That gave the striker confidence and he scored a delicious 25-yard curler 90 seconds after the break. Two Mads Hermansen howlers gifted Rostock goals back but Storskov wrapped up a hat-trick to sandwich those goals. Then got injured again! That was followed by a tough trip to Dortmund, where Prusseit decided to test out a defensive approach with a mass of more defensive instructions. And, to his surprise more than anyone else's, it worked as Seibert scored early and, despite an Adeyemi penalty, they held on for a point. Another international break followed but Union returned with another three points. Villalonga put them ahead after half an hour then goals either side of halftime by Lnenicka and Picak's delicious curled effort wrapped up a 3-2 victory over Hamburg. That suddenly had them in 7th and just three points off the Champions League places! But any dreams of reaching those heights were firmly dashed by a 2-1 loss at 4th-place Freiburg, who dominated by 25 shots to seven. However, they closed the gap on the European places with an excellent 3-2 win at home to 6th-place Stuttgart. The visitors twice led either side of Storskov's close-range header, second time around thanks to another Hermansen clanger. But an excellent Storskov finish got them level again before a superb outside-of-the-right-foot finish by Seiber nicked it in the 89th minute. That was backed up with a solid 0-0 at home to a strong but struggling Leverkusen before wrapping up 2033 with a thrilling 3-3 draw at 5th-place Frankfurt. That was despite going to Prusseit's defensive approach with Picak and centre-back Philipp Shulz twice cancelling out Frankfurt goals before another late Seibert strike earned a point. A strong run of form saw Union sitting firmly in mid-table in 10th place. Their 25 points, thanks to six wins, seven draws and just four defeats, sees them 13 points of any relegation issues and five points off the European places. Interestingly, Bayern didn't hit the top of Bundesliga until the last week of November due to a strong Gladbach start, and now only trail Dortmund having played one game fewer. DFB-Pokal Run! Last season, Union's Pokal run was halted by Dortmund in the 'eighth final.' And wins over Nordhausen and Frankurt sent them back to that stage again. This time, they took on Freiburg away three days after the same league fixture. And a switch to Prusseit's defensive away approach worked as they earned a 0-0 then Seibert and Gruber strikes nicked a 2-0 extra-time win. That teed up a quarter-final at Wolfsburg in January. Prusseit was delighted with Union's progress so far this season. But he was keen to avoid the post-Christmas slump that occurred last season. Their top player, when he's been fit, has been new boy Storskov, who has nine goals and a 7.27 average rating in 14 games. Picak has impressed with seven goals, he and Villalonga both have four assists, but Silny leads the way with six assists. Can Prusseit help Union avoid another Bundesliga slump? And can they progress to the latter stages of DFB-Pokal?

Haha yeeah that was brutal 😖

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 23 | Poor Form But Plenty Of Potential Union Berlin enjoyed a strong start to manager Ruprecht Prusseit's first-ever season in top-flight football. They'd been as high as fifth in the early stages of Bundesliga and went into the winter break just a few points behind the European places. Their strong start to the campaign was rewarded as the Union board doubling Prusseit's wages to £16k a week with a new contract through to 2035. The challenge now was for the manager to maintain that strong start and avoid any relegation concerns. Throughout this save, no side has been relegated from Bundesliga with more than 31 points. So Prusseit's team needed to pick up at least six more points to remove any feats. Prusseit was especially keen to stay up and finish as high as possible purely to start bringing in some of the Bundesliga's rich prize money. That was because the club came into 2033 with a negative bank balance having lost £13m since the start of the season. Shaky Start To 2033 The new year began in disastrous fashion as Union got pummelled 8-0 at Hertha in the Berliner Derby with a hat-trick from Thiago Almada and four from Julian Rijkhoff, who immediately moved to Liverpool for £80m. However, it had only been 2-0 when Matej Lnenicka got sent off for a two-footed lunge. And the performance was so bad that Prusseit fined all 11 players a week's wages. Union were now five games without a win with a tricky run of games upcoming. For obvious reasons, Prusseit went a little more cautious and they were lucky to only lose 2-1 at Wolfsburg after being battered by 21 shots to six then slightly unlucky to lose 1-0 at home to Köln. Just what they didn't need now was a visit from Bayern, although they had just lost their second game of the season 1-0 at another promoted side Nürnberg. But there was no such generosity as Bayern cruised to a 2-0 win with a brace from their ridiculous striker Florian Kreuzer. A 1-0 loss at Hamburg had fans firmly on Prusseit's back as they'd gone eight league games without a win, lost five on the bounce and scored just three in eight. As a result, Union slumped to 14th in Bundesliga. However, that poor run was finally snapped as Prusseit made a few tactical and defensive tweaks for a trip to Gladbach. Winger Grga Picak put them ahead with a delicious 30-yarder just after the hour mark then midfielder Andrej Kovac ran through the Gladbach defence to double the lead nine minutes later. The hosts got a goal back but Prusseit went more defensive and held on for a 2-1 victory. Union couldn't take momentum from that as a tough game at home to Bayer Leverkusen saw a 2-0 defeat. But another good performance on the road saw Kovac create the opener for Picak then nick a point at Werder Bremen with a superb 95th-minute strike from the edge of the box. A vital game for Union saw a visit from 15th-place Nürnberg and Prusseit thought this was the ideal time to move back to his two striker formation. And a Picak penalty edged a terrible game of just 11 shots between the two teams. More importantly, that moved Union onto 32 points and 14 clear of the relegation places with nine games remaining. Edging Towards Survival A solid 13th-place in Bundesliga meant Union were virtually safe heading into the final quarter of the season. But their run-in was pretty tough, starting by losing 3-0 at 3rd-place Stuttgart before Lnenicka and Ahmed Ramadan ended their long goal droughts to nick a 2-2 draw with 4th-place Wolfsburg. Another OstDeutsche rival clash resulted in defeat as they were edged out 3-2 by RB Leipzig, in which Ville Paavolainen ended his 13-hour goal drought. They lost 2-0 at Frankfurt before goals by the strikeforce of Ramadan and Lnenicka mathematically confirmed survival. The season rounded out with a 1-1 at relegated Hoffenheim, 0-0 at Arminia Bielefeld and a 3-1 loss at Dortmund, before a final-day 1-1 draw at home to Freiburg on Prusseit's 49th birthday. Union finished up in 13th place in Bundesliga with 39 points, finishing 17 points above the relegation places, 11 points above the relegation playoff and 15 points off the European places. Those efforts saw Prusseit come second in German Manager of the Year while right-back Nico Korte won U19 Player of the Year. And, more importantly, they bagged £41m in prize money. Plenty Of Promise At Union Berlin Prusseit was pretty pleased with his first season in the German top tier, safely avoiding any relegation trouble thanks largely to a strong start to the campaign. However, he was a little concerned by just three wins and 14 points from 18 games after Christmas. Lnenicka led the way with 11 goals followed by Paavolainen and Picak with nine, Ramadan's seven and Kovac's six. Picak topped the club's assists chart with 13 followed by Kovac with six and Antonio Villalonga's four. And Kovac was the only player to average over a 7.00. However, there was plenty to get excited about given the potential at the club. Prusseit saw his first player represent Germany as Korte was handed his debut against Ukraine in March, despite being in pretty terrible form for Union. While the potential at the club was proven by Paavolainen coming 2nd in NxGn 2033, along with Korte (9th), Satoru Iida (18th), Ori Kanuk (20th), centre-back Kresten Vilfort (23rd) and Jindrich Scasny (39th). That potential was added to by a solid youth intake that contained two 5-star potential players in goalkeeper Michael Reitz and winger Christopher Middendorf plus 4-star holding midfielder Younes Müller. Bayern continue their ridiculous dominance of Bundesliga, winning a 22nd consecutive title by seven points from Dortmund, while Leipzig were down in sixth. Bayern also wrapped up a DFB-Pokal and Champions League treble! A third OstDeutscher side will be in Bundesliga next season as Hansa Rostock won 2. Bundesliga but Prusseit's former club Energie Cottbus were relegated back to 3. Liga. While Chemnitzer were relegated from 3. Liga and Chemie Leipzig were relegated from Regionalliga. But two more of Prusseit's former clubs were promoted as Hansa Rostock II won Regionalliga Nordost and Stendal won Verbandsliga Saxonia-Anhalt. Could Prusseit develop more of the potential at Union Berlin for an improved campaign in 2033/34?

Oh yes! In some of my recent saves Hertha have become the biggest team in Germany after 20 years or so... so we need to prevent that from happening! And beating RBL is always nice too

OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 22 | First Taste Of Bundesliga After 10 years of life as a proper Football Manager, Ruprecht Prusseit had gone from virtual obscurity to joining Germany's elite in Bundesliga. He led Union Berlin back to Bundesliga in 2031/32, lifting only the club's second professional trophy as 2. Bundesliga Champions. But there was little time to reflect on his journey from a local football injury and subsequent minor management experience to managing in the lower tiers, then a rise from the third tier up to the top in three seasons. As Prusseit had plenty of hard work behind the scenes. That's because his star midfielder András Schäfer was joining Monaco at the end of his contract, left-back Jan Hosek went to Slavia Prague for £1.2m and centre-back Jan Sodiq joined Energie Cottbus for £1.3m. And the squad was set to be very light when a mass of loanees departed, so Prusseit wasted no time in locking down deals as soon as promotion was secured. Indeed, 11 (eleven!) players arrived the day the transfer window opened. The pick of the new signings were probably two 18-year-olds in striker Ville Paavolainen, who joined for £3.1m from AGF, and Satoru Iida, who Prusseit was going to use as a holding midfielder after joining for £500k from Niigata Unicorn. The defence got a significant makeover, including left-backs Ori Kanuk and Marcel Müller, for £2.6m and £1.3m from Hapoel Be'er Sheva and St. Pauli, and centre-backs Jindrich Scasny, Ali Salameh and Emiliano Otero for £5.75m, £2.5m and £2.5m from Slavia Prague, Viktoria Plzen and Boca Juniors. They were still very light in midfield, which Prusseit addressed with a couple of loan deals for Inter's Andrej Kovac, who looks like being a special player, and Lucas from Flamengo. Those deals had the squad packed with potential, with 14 players of at least 4.5-star potential. And, with a fairly hefty rebuild completed, Prusseit decided to move to a more conservative 4-3-3 approach. Four of the new signings come in as starters, with striker Matej Lnenicka retraining as a midfielder and new boy Paavolainen battling it out with last season's top scorer Ahmed Ramadan for the lone frontman role. Facing A Tough Bundesliga Challenge The bookies certainly didn't fancy Union's chances of survival, predicting them to finish 17th with odds of 400/1 to win the league. Bayern are the only team fancied to win it with odds of 8/15 followed by Bayer Leverkusen, who've built a really strong team, at 9/1, RB Leipzig at 12/1, Dortmund at 16/1 and arch-rivals Hertha at 25/1. Prusseit's first-ever match in top-tier football took him to what may be the biggest ground he had been to in his 48 years, as Union travelled to RheinErgieStadion to face 1. FC Köln. But Prusseit's team was far from overawed as they started well with winger Grga Picak beating two men to slam home after 14 minutes. Köln got level with a penalty just after half-time and began to dominate but Union defended well before an inspired sub saw Ramadan take advantage of a defensive howler to score an 84th-minute winner. A massive fixture followed as Prusseit's first home game in Bundesliga was also his first Berliner Derby against Hertha. The rivals played out a dreadful first half but, deep into injury time, Lnenicka got forward from midfield and latched onto a loose ball to smash home from 12 yards. An equally bad second half followed with Hertha offering nothing and they were again made to pay by Lnenicka in injury time! Another home game followed against Hamburg and Kovac got his first goal to earn a solid 1-1. But Prusseit's second away game swiftly saw his biggest-ever stadium visit broken as they faced the toughest test of all away to perennial champions Bayern. Union unsurprisingly got thumped 4-0, which wasn't bad after giving up an outrageous 39 shots to one, before losing 1-0 at home to Gladbach. Another huge game followed as Prusseit face his first-ever clash with OstDeutscher top dog RB Leipzig. Prusseit switched to a more conservative approach and it worked as a Ramadan brace and a Paolo Di Canio-esque Antonio Villalonga volley earned a famous 3-2 victory. A pretty disappointing 2-0 defeat at home to Werder Bremen was followed by a hard-earned 1-1 at fellow promoted side Nürnberg and a Paavolainen goal earned another 1-1 with Hoffenheim. But they got back to winning ways as Picak and Villalonga goals downed struggling Arminia Bielefeld 2-0. But any performance so far this season was blown out of the water by a stunning performance at Leverkusen. Great play by right-back Josha Vagnoman teed up Paavolainen for the opener inside five minutes and Kovac doubled the lead seven minutes later. Leverkusen dominated the game but only managed to get four shots on target, while another excellent Paavolainen finish then his replacement Ramadan wrapped up a stunning 4-0 victory. That was backed up with another superb performance to hammer Frankfurt 4-1 with braces by Paavolainen and Lnenicka, which lifted Union into the top five after 12 games! And they stayed there as Picak created the opener for Lnenicka then scored the winner in a 2-1 victory at Mainz. But a 4-0 hammering at home to Stuttgart ended Union's six-game unbeaten streak followed by a 2-0 loss at home to Dortmund, before Picak and Paavolainen earned a 2-2 draw at Freiburg. That sent Union into the winter break sitting fairly comfortably in 8th place with 25 points from 16 games. They were only three points off the European places but, more importantly, 12 points clear of the relegation place. Only four teams had conceded fewer than Union's 23 but only six had scored fewer than their 24. But Picak had the second-most assists in the league with seven. Could Prusseit maintain Union's strong start to life in Bundesliga and lead them to safety?

Cheers! yeah Schulz is decent, he's been really solid for us heading into the Bundesliga

Hertha Berlin were on track to secure an immediate return to Bundesliga after manager Ruprecht Prusseit made a solid start to his biggest job so far on his OstDeutscher Sieg journey. But there was plenty of pressure on the Dresden-born boss to make that promotion happen. However, Prusseit's credentials as a manager were significantly boosted as he passed his Continental Pro Licence, the highest coaching qualification possible in January 2032. The new qualification saw his world reputation increase to 3.5 stars or National. Taking The Fight To Heidenheim Union Berlin began 2032 superbly as Matej Lnenicka and a brace by winger Antonio Villalonga had them 3-0 up inside 24 minutes at Ingolstadt. The hosts scored twice out of nowhere after the break but Union held on for a 3-2 victory. Midfielder András Schäfer nicked a 1-0 win at home to Holstein Kiel followed by a 3-0 win at Jahn Regensburg while league leaders Heidenheim lost two on the bounce, which suddenly sent Union six points clear. A week later, the lead was nine points as Union came from two goals down to thump 10-man Paderborn 7-3 led by a brilliant Schäfer four-goal haul while Heidenheim lost again. And a strong start continued before a six-game winning streak ended with a 2-0 defeat at Hansa Rostock. Union got back on track with a 1-0 win over another fellow OstDeutsche side Magdeburk courtesy of right-winger Grga Picak's delicious finish. Then top scorer Ahmed Ramadan scored his 20th league goal of the season in a 2-0 win at Sandhausen. 8 Games From Bundesliga Union's strong start to 2032 had coincided with Heidenheim having had a dreadful one, losing five of their last nine games having only lost three of their first 17. With eight games remaining, Union had built up an 11-point lead on Heidenheim, 12 points on 3rd-place Rostock and 4th-place Darmstadt. Ramadan had been quiet of late but burst into life with his second four-goal haul of the season in a 6-0 hammering of Karlsruhe. Then just a second draw of the season, a 1-1 at Bochum, saw Rostock cut the lead to 10 points. Heidenheim, meanwhile, had continued their slump down to 5th and Union's first chance to clinch promotion could come against them. They were looking good as Lnenicka scored early on but offered nothing after that and allowed Heidenheim back into it. But Rostock also drew and they stayed 11 points clear of 4th-place Darmstadt with five games remaining. Their next potential opportunity came in Prusseit's first return to Energie Cottbus, who they put seven past earlier in the season. They again dominated his former club, with Picak adding to his hat-trick in the first game with a first-half brace alongside Lnenicka and Ramadan strikes, then a late Achim Jungehülsing goal wrapped up a thumping 5-0 away win. On The Verge Of Bundesliga The next day after Union's crushing of Cottbus, Rostock drew with Ingolstadt to leave Union 12 points clear of 4th place with four games remaining. So Union just needed one point to confirm promotion and two points to clinch the title. They had a good chance to achieve both as they entertained 10th-place St. Pauli. Union came out flying and dominated the first half by 11 shots to one, eventually taking advantage as Villalonga slammed home after 43 minutes then laid on the second for Schäfer three minutes later. The game was all over as midfielder Phil Meyer drilled home from the edge of the box 10 minutes after the break and young striker Dominic Frenking sealed a dominant 4-0 win late on. Union Berlin were 2. Bundesliga Champions! A successful campaign concluded a 3-2 win at Nürnberg thanks to Ramadan's hat trick, a 2-2 draw with Augsburg and a final day 2-0 loss at Darmstadt. Union won the league by 12 points from Nürnberg, massively outscoring the rest of the division with 90 goals while only Nürnberg conceded fewer than their 33. Ramadan was the second-top scorer with 28 in 33, only bettered by Nürnberg striker Leonardus Michaux scoring 34 in 34. Villalonga set a new league record with his 7.53 average rating, Lnenicka also set a new league record with 15 assists followed by Villalonga's 12, and Mads Hermansen kept the most clean sheets with 15. Looking Ahead To A First Bundesliga Campaign Prusseit was delighted with Union's efforts this season, especially a dominant second half of the campaign that saw them walk away with the 2. Bundesliga title. Furthermore, the title success bagged Union a much-needed £17.25m. Ramadan topped the goalscoring charts with a new club-record 31 in 35 games plus five assists and a 7.48 average rating. And his strike partner Lnenicka scored 10 and got a new club-record 16 assists with a 7.38 average rating. Winger Villalonga scored five and got 13 assist with a club-high 7.49 average rating and is apparently considered a leading Bundesliga player. Schäfer scored 14, Pica scored 11 and got six assists, and left-back Jan Hosek got 10 assists. There was plenty of work to do in the summer if Union were to survive in their manager's first-ever season in Bundesliga. But having just completed three successive promotions with two teams, Prusseit was feeling pretty confident. And he'd already set about making transfers to strengthen the squad. The good news was that he'd managed to make it up to Bundesliga without Leipzig becoming the first-ever OstDeutscher champions. Bayern won their 20th successive Bundesliga, winning the title by 11 points from Leverkusen with Leipzig finishing way down in 10th. Rostock, Magdeburg and Cottbus all survived in 2. Bundesliga and Dresden finished mid-table in 3. Liga, where they'd be joined by Chemnitzer who won Regionalliga Nordost. Could Prusseit build a squad capable of competing in Bundesliga?

This is awesome! I'd love to go to a Union game one day - and I need to visit Berlin too. Maybe one day. And yeah, the whole German football experience feels like everything football is supposed to be, compared to what we get in the UK. Trust me, we will never consider joining RB Leipzig - Ruprecht is very much committed to the Union project, and hopefully if we can survive and reap the Bundesliga money then we can build something special.