At the start of the season Union surpassed the most daring expectations of the fans. Urs Fischer’s team not only moved away from the relegation zone, they are now in the European competition zone. It remains a mystery whether the “iron” will be able to compete seriously for qualification for the continental tournaments, but the fact that they are a very inconvenient opponent for any representative of the Bundesliga makes sense to note. By the 13th round “Union” is coming up on the sixth line in the table with 18 points in the asset, being ahead of the seventh “Stuttgart” and the eighth “Borussia” from M?nchengladbach only due to additional indicators. From the fifth “Wolfsburg” there is a lag of three points. Despite the success at the start of the season, in the last rounds Union slowed down a bit, losing in the derby to Hertha in the 10th round. The Ironmen got together and gave a fight to Bayern, having defended a 1:1 draw at home. In the last round Union had a two-goal lead over Stuttgart until the 85th minute, but eventually allowed the Swabians to win back. A 2:2 draw extended the club’s streak without wins to four matches.
Torino is failing the season. Marco Giampaolo’s team was unable to get out of the relegation zone for 11 rounds. At the moment, the bulls are in 18th place in the table, with only six points in the asset. Nevertheless, chances of salvation are very high. The crisis has not spared other teams as well. The saving 17th line is only three points away. Torino won its last and so far the only victory in the third round. Then they managed to beat Genoa away with a score of 2:1. However, the victory did not become a panacea. After that in five rounds the bulls were able to take only two points. In the last round the Turin club could count on one point. The bulls won back with a score 0:2 against Udinese, but in the end they conceded again and lost. After this defeat, the president of the club, Urbano Cairo, had a serious conversation with players, but Giampaolo’s resignation did not follow. According to the Italian press, the Torino mentor has serious complaints about a number of players. Simone Zadza, Sualiho Meite, Salvatore Sirigu and Nicolas N’Kulu will probably lose their place in the base for today’s match.
