Union Berlin draw with fourth-tier VSG Altglienicke in local friendly

Marin Ljubičić and Jonas Nietfeld score as Regionalliga Nordost side VSG Altglienicke managed a 1-1 draw against Bundesliga club 1. FC Union Berlin.

1. FC Union Berlin visited the Spree-Arena in nearby Fürstenwalde to face Regionalliga side VSG Altglienicke on Wednesday evening.

Union Berlin sit at 1-0-1 after their first two matches in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season, defeating VfB Stuttgart (2-1) but losing to Borussia Dortmund (0-3). As for Altglienicke, they are 4-0-2 in the Nordost division of the German fourth tier, having been involved in two-goal margins in all of their last three matches (2-0, 1-3, 3-1), two of which resulted in a win.

It did not even take the visitors a minute to open the scoring, as a through ball from Robert Skov reached the left boot of Marin Ljubičić; the 23-year-old Croatian forward followed with a run into the centre of the box before slamming the ball past a charging Luis Klatte, into the bottom-left corner.

The hosts would draw level before the first half ended; Uğur Tezel’s right-footed cross, from the right side of the Union third, landed to Jonas Nietfeld; the 31-year-old German forward’s ensuing header went past a diving Matheo Raab and into the bottom-left corner.

The second half was full of close chances; the most notable was a direct Jeong Woo-yeong free kick in the seventy-second minute, which was aimed far-post but pawed away by a leaping Klatte.

Union Berlin looked like the better side until the eightieth minute, after which Altglienicke started generating chances on the left side of the visitors’ half, primarily from the left and central areas of the Union third – Noah Kardam and Biyan Kizildemir would both come close to scoring the decider, with the former’s left-footed shot in the eighty-second minute going just wide of the left post.

The full-time whistle would go shortly after, resulting in a surprising 1-1 tie. The next match for Altglienicke is in the Berliner Landespokal, at Neuköllner Sportfreunde 1907 on Sunday at 12:00 (CET); as for Union Berlin, they host TSG 1899 Hoffenheim after the international break, on Sunday, 13. September at 15:30 (CET).