Liverpool vs 1. FC Union Berlin Tickets

Liverpool, as six times winners of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, have a whole lot more experience at the highest level of club football than their opponents, Union Berlin, and in many ways, that’s part of the magic of the competition.

The Premier League side’s success in the tournament embraces both the European Cup and the UEFA Champions League, and their most prolific period came in the late 1970s and early 1980s when they were very much the team to beat.

Bob Paisley led the team to their first European Cup success in 1977 when they defeated Borussia Monchengladbach, and a year later, they won again, this time against Belgian side Club Brugge. The legendary Liverpool boss made it a hat-trick of triumphs by beating Real Madrid in 1981.

Paisley’s replacement, Joe Fagan, won the trophy in his first season in charge, beating AS Roma on penalties in a game best remembered for goalkeeper Bruce Grobelaar’s antics between the sticks.

It would take another twenty years for Liverpool to hit those heights again, and boy, when they did, they did so in style. Rafa Benitez, again a manager in his first season at the club, took the team to the final, where they met AC Milan in Istanbul.

By half-time, with Liverpool three goals down, the game looked dead and buried, but somehow they emerged victorious, firstly due to a captain’s performance from Steven Gerrard and then the heroics of Polish keeper Jerzy Dudek, who helped secure another penalty shoot-out win.

2018/19 marked Liverpool’s sixth win, this time under Jurgen Klopp, with a 2-0 win over Tottenham securing them the trophy in Madrid.

Union Berlin, in marked contrast, made their UEFA Champions League debut in 2023/24, and it’s only the third European campaign ever for Die Eisernen.

In 2001/02, they qualified for the UEFA Cup, only to lose in the Second Round, and in 2021/22, they made an appearance in the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League, where they were knocked out in the group stage.

In 2022/23, they managed to get to the Round of 16 in the UEFA Europa League before they were knocked out by Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise.

Liverpool vs 1. FC Union Berlin Head-to-Head

Unsurprisingly, given Union Berlin’s lack of European experience, these two teams have never met in competitive action, which makes the tie all the more enticing.

Liverpool vs 1. FC Union Berlin Connections

The only player to have played for both Liverpool and Union Berlin is German keeper Loris Karius. The goalie moved to Anfield in 2016 and made a total of 49 appearances for the club before he was sold to Turkish side Besiktas.

Unfortunately, Karius will always be best remembered for his poor display in the 2018 UEFA Champions League final, where he dropped a clanger during Real Madrid’s 3-1 victory.

While at Liverpool, he spent some time out on loan at Union Berlin but made just five appearances for the Stadion An der Alten Försterei team.