Union Berlin is slowly saying goodbye to the championship race of the Bundesliga. The 1:1 (0:0) at VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday evening was already the fourth league game in a row without a win. Even on a Champions League place, the surprise team is currently only this season because they have the better goal difference than the equal table fifth SC Freiburg.

In front of 23,554 spectators in the Volkswagen Arena, even one point was rather fortunate from Berlin's point of view. And that although Union took the lead through a foul penalty by Josip Juranovic in the 72nd minute and Patrick Wimmer's equalizer fell only six minutes before the end (84.). Because over the whole game, VfL missed several good chances, as they did a week ago in the 2-2 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.

In the 15th minute, a free kick from Mattias Svanberg clapped on the crossbar. Only one minute later, Union goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow parried a shot by Kilian Fischer (16th), who had broken through on his right side. Shortly before half-time, Omar Marmoush even ran all alone towards the Danish keeper (45.). But the Egyptian shot past the goal. In the second half, the VfL striker missed two more good opportunities (59th/76th).

Fresh and dynamic

Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac was right with his assessment: The strong running VfL actually looked fresher and more dynamic than its opponent, because Union was stuck between two Europa League games on Sunday evening. The first game against Saint-Gilloise took place on Thursday evening in Berlin (3:3). The second leg in Belgium follows exactly one week later.

How great the respect for the Unioners was nevertheless shown by the Wolfsburg key personnel of this evening. For the first time in 23 months, VfL played a Bundesliga game without their suspended captain Maximilian Arnold. However, Kovac did not replace the central defensive midfielder, but set up two security forces in front of the defence with Josuha Guilavogui and Felix Nmecha.

Since Union also likes to condense the center, a predominantly balanced game developed with many duels and little space gains. The only difference between the two teams was: Union only needed a clear chance for a goal, VfL half a dozen.

And so a Wolfsburg pattern showed up again: For the fifth time in the new year, VfL played against one of the top six teams in the Bundesliga. And for the third time, despite a clear increase in chances, they remained without a victory. So the Wolves also missed the hoped-for jump to seventh place, which may be enough for a place in the Conference League at the end of the season.