Union Berlin are now a major irritant to the Bundesliga’s established order

Those records keep tumbling. Their longest top-flight unbeaten run (now 11) was extended. This is the first time they have gone unbeaten in five Bundesliga away games. Add to that, of course, the big one – this was their biggest ever Bundesliga win, at the home of one of German football’s iconic clubs in front of a sold-out, 62,000-plus crowd. Union Berlin are not a curio, not a fleeting story and more than a minor irritant to the Bundesliga’s established order.

Saturday’s 6-1 win at Schalke took Union level on points with Bayern Munich at the summit, planting their flag again in unexpectedly high grounds, just as they had done in getting to the top flight for the first time in 2019, and in becoming Berlin’s preeminent force over the larger and more well-heeled Hertha, having beaten their city rivals four times in a row (including, with some comfort, in this season’s opening match). They will face the next challenge from the best possible angle; next week, they meet Bayern in Berlin.

There will be plenty of time to savour that; the anticipation and preparation in the days leading up the game, the atmosphere on the day and the game itself, at a venue in the Alten Försterei where the champions have never lost in three previous visits but have had a couple of rough rides. Let’s get back to the Saturday just gone first, though.

Schalke might only be slowly and steadily climbing back to respectability, from years of sporting and financial embarrassment, but they remain a huge name and a big deal, as their crowds prove. This was the first time Union had ever beaten them and though the circumstances – and expectations – of both may have changed since they last met 18 months before, this was a bona fide feather in Köpenicker