Union Berlin: From Donating Blood to Debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League

The team from the east of the capital of Germany will play for the first time in the highest international championship on the European continent and their first match will be at the Santiago Bernabéu. .

Union Berlinonclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ > writes a new page in its tremendous history. The East Berlin team punched its ticket to the next edition of the Champions Leagueonclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ > for the first time and now he will have his big debut against Real Madridonclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ > at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. Something that seemed unthinkable almost twenty years ago when his fans donated thousands of blood to save their club.onclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ >onclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ >.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the capital team always oscillated between the second and third categories of German football until in 2004 they could not pay the license to play in the second category due to the immense debts in which the club was immersed. That is why a group of fans created an unprecedented revolutionary campaign: “Blood for Union”onclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ >onclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ >, which in Spanish translates to “Bleed for Union”onclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ >.

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In Germany, those who donate blood are rewarded with a sum of money, so thousands of fans came to donate blood and all the proceeds went to the institution.onclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ >. It was not enough but it stands out among the greatest feats of love for a club in history.

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Just two years later, the fans showed up once again and this time what they invested was not their blood but thousands of hours of work. Due to the poor condition of its facilities, 2,500 fans volunteered to rebuild their stadium, the An der Alten Försterei, with their own hands.onclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ >.

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It is estimated that in total They worked 140,000 hours for freeonclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ > and they achieved the great objective of getting the venue where they will serve as home in condition for their first participation in the Champions League in their history.

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In the 2018/19 season they reached the Bundesliga after defeating a giant like Stuttgart in a play-off.onclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ > and since his arrival in the highest category he not only kept me within it but also managed to return to international competitions.

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This past 2022/23 season he played in the Europa League and after defeating Werder Bremen 1-0 with a goal from Rami Khedira at the An der Alten Försterei, he was able to qualify for the Champions Leagueonclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ >, after briefly leading the local tournament that would end up with Bayern Munich over Borussia Dortmund in an agonizing definition.

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And although it is not a power, Union Berlin struck a blow in the scoring of passes by seducing and keeping the services of Leonardo Bonucci onclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ >to play in the 2023-24 Champions League after the historic Italian defender is separated by Massimiliano Allegri from Juventusonclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ >, where he still had one more year left on his contract.

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The same day that the arrival of the historic central defender was confirmed, The draw for the Champions League took place and destiny gave the Berlin team a challenge worthy of their eternal fight against adversity.onclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ >. His ball came out and added him to group C, where he was paired with nothing more and nothing less than Real Madrid,onclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ > with the addition of have his debut at the legendary Santiago Bernabéu.onclick=’vApp.ga4SelectContentEvent(“Union Berlin, from donating blood to save the club to debuting with Real Madrid in the Champions League”, “Champions League”, “Note”);’ >

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In turn, this zone is completed by Napoli (new champion of Serie A for the first time in 32 years and whose main objective was to fight hard again in Europe after being eliminated in the quarterfinals in the last edition) and Sporting Braga from Portugal.

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