With Bremen playing without any pressure after securing their Bundesliga status, the focus was on Union Berlin to see if they could clinch the final Champions League berth by matching or bettering Freiberg’s result.
As the action got underway, the visitors soaked up some early pressure from Urs Fischer’s side before settling into the game. Referee Patrick Ittrich awarded Union a penalty in the 10th minute for a foul inside the area, only for the decision to be reversed moments later following a VAR review.
Bremen’s backline stood firm as Berlin continued to probe for an opening goal, and they eventually had an opportunity to silence the home fans in the 26th minute, but substitute Maximilian Philipp – who had replaced Niklas Schmidt minutes earlier due to an injury – was unable to find the target following a corner.
Both teams struggled to make the most of their openings as the first half progressed. Bremen had a golden opportunity on the stroke of half-time, but Frederik Ronnow was alert to thwart Milos Veljković from close range.
If Berlin looked at the Bundesliga table at the interval, they would have seen that they had dropped to 5th, with Freiberg leading 1-0 away at Frankfurt. The home side now required a goal to keep their UCL hopes alive.
Jerome Roussillon was denied by Jiri Pavlenka after trying his luck from the edge of the area in the 51st minute, before the flag was raised after Sheraldo Becker had put the ball in the net minutes later.
Danilho Doekhi came close with a headed chance in the 67th minute, but time was running out for Union, who looked set to miss out on joining Europe's elite and play Europa League football for the second consecutive campaign.
Scenes of jubilation arrived late in the game, as Rani Khedira collected Sven Michel's pass inside the area and fired the ball in off the post, securing Union the victory and Champions League football for next season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rani Khedira (Union Berlin)
