Football Season Guide

It was a campaign of two halves for Union Berlin last season who were competitive in the first half but their form dropped off drastically after the winter break, leading to Steffen Baumgart's dismissal with the club slipping closer to the relegation zone. Marie-Louise Eta steadied the ship in the final five games, picking up seven points to ensure Berlin finished in a comfortable mid-table position. Eta has since moved on to take over the women's team with Berlin appointing Mauro Lustrinelli as the permanent replacement for Baumgart. Lustrinelli takes over a team in flux following the departures of Diogo Leite and Danilho Doekhi, both of whom were first choice center backs for Berlin in recent years. Alex Kral has also been sold while Chris Bedia, Laszlo Benes and Yannic Stein have seen their loan moves converted into permanent transfers. Marvin Friedrich arrives on a free transfer from Borussia Monchengladbach while Berlin have picked up their option to convert Stanley Nsoki's loan into a permanent move. Zeno Van Den Bosch and Emmanuel Latte Lath have also arrived to reinforce the defence and the attack respectively while Michel Aebischer has been their biggest transfer outlay, though they are well stocked in the center of the midfield. Coach Lustrinelli had enjoyed remarkable success at Swiss club Thun, leading them to the second division title in 2024-25 season before pulling off a first division title win last season. The Swiss coach though represents a departure in style of play for Berlin from recent years, with Lustrinelli favouring a more proactive and offensive football. The biggest change will be at the back, with Lustrinelli expected to implement a four-man defence compared to Berlin's traditional back five Berlin are still taking their time to adopt Lustrinelli's ideas with the coach admitting during pre-season that there are issues that need to be worked out ahead of the new season. With the club also losing two of their most experienced central defenders, the defence could prove to be a major weakness for Berlin heading into the new campaign though that is compensated with an experienced midfield where Berlin are arguably their strongest.