Union is playing against Hertha BSC in the Olympic Stadium today. Definitely an explosive cup derby!
Or much more?
Is a 56-year-old football story from Munich repeating itself?
TSV 1860 was the people’s club in the Bavarian capital in the first half of the 1960s. Blue and white like Hertha.
The “Lions” were founding members of the Bundesliga in 1963. Winner of the DFB Cup in 1964, European Cup finalist in 1965, and finally German champion in 1966.
With Max Merkel († 87) (“Carrot and Stick”), the driving force sat on the bench. And with Petar Radenkovic (87) there was an amazing guy in goal.
Foto: picture alliance / dpa
” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/1966-was-1860-muenchen-deutscher-meister-capitaen-peter-grosser-mit-der-meisterschal-10ebd3295c014df984fbe202efeb9118-78876892/Bild/ 1.image.jpg”/> In 1966, 1860 Munich became German champions. Captain Peter Grosser with the championship trophyFoto: picture alliance / dpa
This means: Actually, he never stood up, but flitted more across the square, made breathtaking excursions for the time – and sang about a record (“Bin i Radi, bin i König”).
But then FC Bayern came along. Red and white like Union Berlin.
Promotion to the Bundesliga in 1965 with a very young team. Franz Beckenbauer (76), Gerd Müller (†75), Sepp Maier (77). Who knew them outside of Munich back then?
<img class="photo ondemand zoomable" src="https://bilder.bild.de/fotos-skaliert/gerd-mueller-r–beim-60-gegen-neunkirchen-am-04-september-1965-a9c9f150c0a64eaf8184dd4a91674e8c-78876804/1,w=1280,c=0.bild.jpg" width="1280" alt="Gerd Müller (r.) beim 6:0 gegen Neunkirchen am 04. September 1965" data-zoom-title="Gerd Müller (r.) beim 6:0 gegen Neunkirchen am 04. September 1965
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Gerd Müller (right) in the 6-0 win against Neunkirchen on September 4th, 1965Foto: picture-alliance / ASA
Coach Cajkovski (74) complained that the team could only stay up in the league. Much more was not expected from Union after the rise in 2019.
Bayern surprisingly finished third in the Bundesliga in the first year, and Sepp Maier countered 1860 goalkeeper rival Radenkovic: “I’m Radi, I’m ia Depp, Maier Sepp is king.”
Both clubs played in the small Grünwalder Stadium until the Olympic Stadium was opened in 1972 – and they parted ways forever.
The red and white Bavarians won the Bundesliga 30 times, the blue and white lions alternated between the 4th division and short stays in the Bundesliga. Despite a major investor – which Hertha also has with Lars Windhorst…
Can the “iron” from the Köpenick district create a change of power like the Bavarians once did?
In terms of members, Union (40,725) is just ahead of Hertha (40,224). In the table, Union is about Europe (fifth place), for Bundesliga founding member Hertha again against relegation (13th place).
<img class="photo ondemand zoomable" src="https://bilder.bild.de/fotos-skaliert/am-05-02-2011-schoss-union-legende-torsten-mattuschka-per-freistoss-die-koepenicker-zum-derby-sieg-geg-04e429a9567544eeb3031d09694cf48e-78876812/1,w=1280,c=0.bild.jpg" width="1280" alt="Am 05.02.2011 schoss Union-Legende Torsten Mattuschka per Freistoß die Köpenicker zum Derby-Sieg gegen Hertha im Olympiastadion. Überholt Union Hertha auch in der Statistik? Bislang holten Hertha und " data-zoom-title="Am 05.02.2011 schoss Union-Legende Torsten Mattuschka per Freistoß die Köpenicker zum Derby-Sieg gegen Hertha im Olympiastadion. Überholt Union Hertha auch in der Statistik? Bislang holten Hertha und Union bei neun Spielen jeweils drei Siege gegen den Lokalrivalen bei drei Unentschieden
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On February 5, 2011, Union legend Torsten Mattuschka shot the Köpenickers from a free kick to win the derby against Hertha in the Olympic Stadium. Does Union also overtake Hertha in the statistics? So far, Hertha and Union have each won three games against their local rivals and drawn three in nine games Foto: picture-alliance / City-Press Gb
Union has a confident, successful coach in Swiss Urs Fischer (55), who is already meeting his sixth Hertha colleague (Covic, Klinsmann, Nouri, Labbadia, Dardai, Korkut) in the derby today.
If Hertha misses their dream of the cup final against Union again today and gets stuck at the bottom of the league, Munich history can repeat itself a bit…
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