…INJURY REPORT

Due to illness or injury, Christoph Kramer, Tony Jantschke, Max Wöber and Jonas Omlin as well as the young players Simon Walde and Grant-Leon Ranos will not be available on Sunday. In addition, Julian Weigl is suspended. Jordan, Franck Honorat and Manu Koné were able to take part in light parts of the team training on Friday. There is still a question mark behind their commitment. We have to wait and see how they react to the stress and whether it will be enough for all three until Sunday.

...IMPORTANT MATCH

There are only a few games left to play and we are facing a direct competitor. That's why the game is so important, especially since it's a home game. There will be an increased level of tension. We are approaching this task with maximum concentration and will prepare the game accordingly. It is obvious that the self-confidence of both teams is not as high as it is currently at Bayer Leverkusen, for example. Nevertheless, we will get to work on Sunday with conviction and the necessary determination. We have to bring the qualities on the pitch that are needed in a game like this. We want to put the opponent under pressure depending on the situation, but we also have to be prepared for Berlin's direct game. We will need good depth protection and be greedy for the second balls.

…OPPONENT

Union Berlin is a very unpleasant opponent. After their false start to this Bundesliga season, the Berliners have fought back extremely well, even if the results in the last three games have not been as desired despite good performances. It's a very physical team that is very aggressive on the second ball and plays very purposefully. We can expect a game in which we have to accept the duels and counter them aggressively.

**Club Statement: **

Nenad Bjelica will held the press conference just before the match.