Union Berlin may be Bundesliga underdogs, but here's why they deserve to be your new favorite team

BERLIN, Germany — I admit it: I accidentally got drunk. It happens, right? When you're hanging out with friends in the front of the Stadion an der Alten Försterei, it probably happens frequently.

On the final day of the 2021-22 Bundesliga season, a colleague and I were indeed loitering outside of Union Berlin's home stadium, waiting for the team to appear on the balcony to celebrate with fans over its fifth-place league finish, the club's best ever. It was a heavyweight showing from a historically middleweight club. A concert was arranged for later, there was a Berliner beer stand nearby, and beer was just €4 (and €3 if you return the plastic cup from your last beer), and, well, we were there much longer than expected.

— Stream LIVE: Union Berlin vs. Hertha Berlin, Bundesliga 2022-23, 8/6, 9.30 a.m. ET, E+

The team showed up, players addressed the crowd, the weather was absolutely perfect, fans lit flares as German fans are wont to do (no idea how there were any left after the match itself, but there's evidently an endless supply) and a party indeed broke out.

Considering the team's final match had been a thriller as well — after watching a 2-0 lead disappear against Bochum, Union prevailed with an 88th-minute match winner from Taiwo Awoniyi, his 20th of the season in all competitions — it was an utterly perfect sports outing, a mini-miracle of a spring afternoon.

Now they get to do it all over again. Union not only open the 2022-23 season on Saturday — they do so with a derby, looking to beat Berlin rival Hertha for the fourth consecutive time (9:30 a.m. ET on ESPN+). Awoniyi is gone, and gravity is never too far away for a team punching above its weight class, but manager Urs Fischer's squad will be as ordered and