Union Berlin - Eintracht Frankfurt: guide to the Bundesliga opener in Köpenick
The new Bundesliga season for 1. FC Union Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt begins in one of the most recognizable football settings in Germany. The first-round match is played at Stadion An der Alten Försterei in Berlin, and the current competition schedule confirms a 15:30 kick-off. For both clubs, this is the first league test of the 2026/27 season, but they enter the match from rather different summer contexts.
Union begins a new era with Mauro Lustrinelli, the coach who took over the team in May after winning the Swiss championship with FC Thun. Eintracht has also changed coach: Adi Hütter returned to Frankfurt and, since 1 July, has once again been in charge of the club where he already worked from 2018 to 2021. Two new coaching staffs, reshaped squads and an opening round without a previous league table make this duel particularly interesting.
It is worth securing tickets in good time, especially because of the capacity and structure of the stadium in Köpenick.
What is at stake right at the start of the season
Since this is the first round, both teams enter with zero points and without league form from the current season. For a more realistic context, the end of the previous campaign is therefore more useful. Eintracht Frankfurt finished the 2025/26 season in eighth place with 44 points, while Union was eleventh with 39 points.
Frankfurt therefore arrives in Berlin as a club looking to take a step towards the upper part of the table, while Union under Lustrinelli is trying to build a more stable and proactive team. Developing precisely that style of play was one of the main topics when Union's new coach was appointed.
The opening schedule further increases the value of points for the home side. After Frankfurt, Union travels to Bayer 04 Leverkusen, then hosts FC Schalke 04, while the fourth round brings an away match at FC Bayern München. A good result in the opener would therefore immediately reduce the pressure on the Köpenick side ahead of a demanding continuation.
After Berlin, Frankfurt hosts FC Augsburg and then travels to 1. FSV Mainz 05. Hütter's team has a somewhat different problem: the final friendly matches showed an enormous range between very convincing attacking displays and one heavy defensive collapse.
Union Berlin's form before the first round
Union played a large number of matches during pre-season. The results immediately before the competitive start provide a fairly clear picture - the team can create chances and score, but the defence has not yet looked completely stable.
- 15 August: Union Berlin - Ipswich Town 2:4
- 9 August: Aris Limassol - Union Berlin 2:3
- 2 August: Union Berlin - Cagliari 2:2
- 1 August: Dynamo Dresden - Union Berlin 2:1
The most important test before the league start was the match against Ipswich Town at An der Alten Försterei. Union took the lead through Zeno Van den Bosch, Josip Juranović also scored, but the English team eventually won 4:2. The home side's starting line-up had Carl Klaus in goal, Juranović, Marvin Friedrich, Van den Bosch and Tom Rothe in the defensive line, while Rani Khedira and Aljoscha Kemlein were important figures in midfield.
Emmanuel Latte Lath and Ilyas Ansah started up front, with Woo-yeong Jeong and Livan Burcu in more attacking roles from the second line. This is a good indication of the basic idea Lustrinelli is trying to develop: enough players ahead of the ball, energy in the centre and quick support for the forwards.
Union has another competitive obligation before Frankfurt. In the first round of the German cup on 23 August, it travels to Eintracht Braunschweig. That match will provide a much fresher picture of Lustrinelli's hierarchy than the friendly against Ipswich, especially regarding the choice of goalkeeper, central defence and attacking pair.
Eintracht went from 0:7 to 11:0 in just a few days
Frankfurt's end to pre-season could hardly have been more dramatic. After four wins in its first four friendly appearances, including 2:0 against Hull City and 5:1 against FSV Frankfurt, Hütter's team lost as heavily as 7:0 away to Brentford in its final test.
Brentford scored twice within roughly the first fifteen minutes, and Eintracht could not find a way to stop the home side's transitions and attacks into the space behind the defensive line. It was an extremely unpleasant end to the pre-season period.
The response came on 21 August in the first competitive appearance. Eintracht won 11:0 away at SC St. Tönis, with an incredible 10:0 scoreline already at half-time.
Jonathan Burkardt scored three times. Can Uzun scored two goals, while Robin Koch, Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab, Elias Baum, Younes Ebnoutalib, Mario Götze and Farès Chaïbi were also among the scorers. The result has to be placed in the context of the difference in quality between the opponents, but it is important for Frankfurt's confidence only six days after the defeat in London.
Burkardt's form is particularly interesting for Union. The striker also scored against Hull City and opened the competitive season with a hat-trick. If Hütter starts him up front again in Berlin, the home defence will have to defend crosses and movements through the central zone of the penalty area very carefully.
Can Uzun, Götze and Frankfurt's new balance
Can Uzun was not only a two-goal scorer in the cup. He also participated in the build-up to other goals and represented a constant threat between the lines. Alongside him, Hütter has enough different profiles: Mario Götze can slow down or speed up the attack through passing, Ritsu Doan provides verticality, Hugo Larsson energy in midfield, and Raphael Onyedika additional physical strength in front of the defence.
Onyedika is one of the important summer additions to the team. In the friendly against Hull City, Hütter used four players in the last line, and a similar structure was also shown by the starting line-up against St. Tönis. This suggests that Frankfurt does not want to depend only on deep defending and transitions at the start of the season, but is trying to build attacks through midfield and sufficiently advanced wide players.
Against Union, the question will be how secure such a system will be after losing the ball. The Berlin club has enough speed in Ansah, Burcu, Jeong, Oliver Burke and other attacking options to punish a poorly protected midfield. The defeat to Brentford is therefore precisely the warning that Frankfurt cannot simply erase with a cup victory against a significantly weaker opponent.
Union's new core and players worth watching
Lustrinelli gained several interesting options during the summer, and immediately before the start of competitive action Union also brought in Michel Aebischer. In midfield there are already Khedira, Kemlein, András Schäfer and Janik Haberer, so the coach has enough combinations for a match in which control of the second ball will be extremely important.
Leopold Querfeld deserves particular attention. The Austrian defender was directly involved in Union and Frankfurt's last two league meetings in a very important way. In March 2025, he scored for 1:1 before Union turned the match around in Frankfurt, and in February 2026 he converted a late penalty for 1:1 at An der Alten Försterei.
In attack, Lustrinelli can choose between Ansah, Latte Lath, Andrej Ilić, Marin Ljubičić and other options. Ilić extended his stay with Union a few days before the first league round, while Latte Lath represents the physical profile of a striker who can occupy centre-backs and open space for players arriving from the second line.
Recent head-to-head meetings lean towards Union
The overall history of the head-to-head meetings is more favourable to Frankfurt, but the recent run gives a completely different picture. Before this match, the Bundesliga lists 22 previous meetings, with ten Frankfurt wins and five for Union. However, the Berliners have not lost any of the last five.
- 6 February 2026: Union Berlin - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:1
- 21 September 2025: Eintracht Frankfurt - Union Berlin 3:4
- 9 March 2025: Eintracht Frankfurt - Union Berlin 1:2
- 27 October 2024: Union Berlin - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:1
- 30 March 2024: Eintracht Frankfurt - Union Berlin 0:0
The 4:3 from September last year is particularly memorable, when Oliver Burke scored a hat-trick for Union. Frankfurt reduced the deficit late on through Uzun and Burkardt, but could not complete the comeback.
The match from March 2025 is even more interesting. Frankfurt took the lead, Union equalized through Querfeld, and Jeong scored the winning goal. Frederik Rønnow then saved a penalty in stoppage time and preserved the 2:1 scoreline.
Such results explain why the home side does not have to feel inferior even if Frankfurt has more possession. In several previous meetings, Union has shown that it is comfortable in matches in which the opponent has to take the initiative.
Absences and fitness doubts
Union has confirmed the longer-term absence of Andrik Markgraf. The defender injured his knee during the friendly against Chemnitzer FC and subsequently underwent surgery. The club announced in mid-July that he would be out for a longer period.
At the beginning of August, Frankfurt announced a thigh muscle injury for Timothy Chandler. The same information stated that Nnamdi Collins was expected to return to training, but his exact status for Berlin should be monitored closer to the match.
Robin Koch suffered a mild concussion in the friendly against Brentford and went through the appropriate recovery protocol. His appearance against St. Tönis on 21 August, in which he was captain and scorer, shows that he has returned to competitive action.
Where the match could be decided
One of the key battles will be in the centre of the pitch. If Khedira and Kemlein or another Union combination manage to prevent Uzun and Götze from regularly receiving the ball between the defensive and midfield lines, Frankfurt will be forced to build attacks down the flanks more often.
On the other hand, Union can hardly afford to defend passively deep in front of its own penalty area throughout the match. Burkardt is very dangerous when attacking the space between the centre-backs, while Frankfurt has enough quality in the second wave to punish loose balls.
Set pieces are also worth watching. Querfeld has already scored against Frankfurt, while Koch found the net against St. Tönis from a set piece. At a stadium where the crowd reacts strongly to every duel won, a series of corners or free kicks can very quickly change the rhythm of the match.
For Union, an additional factor will be the experience of a home opener under a new coach. Lustrinelli was presented as a coach who wants a more proactive team and the involvement of younger players. The first league round will show how visible that change already is against an opponent with enough individual quality to punish every mistake.
Stadion An der Alten Försterei - little space and plenty of standing
Stadion An der Alten Försterei is located at An der Wuhlheide 263 in Berlin's Köpenick district. It opened in 1920, and after several phases of modernization it remains almost entirely focused on standing terraces.
The capacity is 22,012 spectators. Of these, 18,395 are standing places and 3,617 are seats. That structure explains why the atmosphere differs from many larger Bundesliga arenas: a large part of the crowd stands very close to the pitch and continuously participates in supporting the team.
- Capacity: 22,012 spectators
- Standing places: 18,395
- Seats: 3,617
- Address: An der Wuhlheide 263, 12555 Berlin
- Away supporters are located in sector 5
Places in the stands disappear quickly, and the limited capacity further increases demand when a club with a large away following comes for the season opener.
Getting to the stadium and parking
For visitors arriving from other parts of Berlin, public transport is generally a more practical option than travelling by car. There are very few parking spaces in the immediate surroundings of the stadium, so the club recommends arriving by rail, tram or other city public transport lines.
For home sections, the usual route is via the S-Bahn S3 line to Köpenick station, followed by a walk of approximately 15 minutes. For away supporters, current information recommends arriving via Spindlersfeld station, which is approximately a 20-minute walk from the stadium.
From the direction of the main railway station, away supporters can use the S9 to Baumschulenweg and then the S47 towards the terminus at Spindlersfeld. For arrival from BER airport, one of the listed options goes via Schöneweide towards the stadium area.
- By car, expect very limited parking around the stadium.
- S-Bahn Köpenick is approximately a 15-minute walk from the stadium.
- For the away section, the route via S-Bahnhof Spindlersfeld is recommended.
- From Spindlersfeld to the stadium it takes approximately 20 minutes on foot.
- Because of construction work and possible changes to Berlin transport, it is worth checking the status of the lines immediately before departure.
For matches of the men's first team, the stadium gates generally open 120 minutes before kick-off. If that standard is also applied to this match, admission should begin at around 13:30. Visitors with larger bags should also pay attention to the rule under which bags and backpacks larger than A4 format are not permitted in the stands.
What to expect in the stands
An der Alten Försterei is not a stadium to arrive at only a few minutes before kick-off if you want to experience the full rhythm of the match. The high proportion of standing places means that the terraces fill up as an active supporters' area, not merely as a collection of numbered seats.
Away sector 5 has a separate entrance alongside the Wuhle area. For Eintracht supporters, this means it is useful to follow the route intended for the away crowd, particularly in the hours immediately before the match when pedestrian flows around the stadium increase.
On the pitch, meanwhile, a meeting can be expected between two teams that have not yet completed their own transformations. Union has changed coach and wants to play more boldly, while Frankfurt under Hütter has already shown both enormous attacking potential and serious defensive weaknesses. The 7:0 against Frankfurt in London and then 11:0 for Frankfurt in Krefeld occurred just six days apart - enough of a warning not to draw overly large conclusions from a single result.
Tickets for this match are in demand among supporters. For visitors, the most important thing is to plan arrival early enough, particularly because of limited parking, possible changes to public transport and the stadium opening two hours before kick-off.
Sources:
- Bundesliga.com - confirmed match time, first-round schedule, standings from the previous season and data on the latest head-to-head meetings.
- 1. FC Union Berlin - current squad for the 2026/27 season, appointment of Mauro Lustrinelli, pre-season results, Andrik Markgraf's injury and information on Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
- 1. FC Union Berlin Visitor Information - stadium capacity, gate opening, sectors, bag rules, public transport and limited parking options.
- 1. FC Union Berlin Guest Information 2026 - recommended route for away supporters via Spindlersfeld and information on access to the away section.
- Eintracht Frankfurt - squad for the 2026/27 season, Adi Hütter's return, friendlies against Hull City and Brentford and fitness information on Robin Koch and Timothy Chandler.
- Sky Sport and ran - SC St. Tönis - Eintracht Frankfurt 0:11 result, scorers and Frankfurt's line-up in the first competitive match of the season.