Union Berlin Engages in Playful Ridicule of Dresden Bridge
The Union Berlin's defensive line showed outstanding stability during their game against RB Leipzig in Leipzig. This defensive performance delighted Union's social media team, who made a light-hearted jibe about Dresden's bridges. The demolition work on the Carol Bridge in Dresden is expected to be completed soon.
Union Berlin's PR team stirred up some controversy with a seemingly humorous comment about Dresden's bridges on their social media platform during the first half of the game against RB Leipzig. "Half an hour in, defensively more stable than any Saxon bridge. Keep it up, guys!", a club employee wrote.
However, it took them almost two hours to realize that their comment might have overstepped a mark, given the collapse of Dresden's Carol Bridge just two days prior. Union quickly issued an apology to the people of Dresden and the city, explaining that they had "got a bit carried away in the heat of the moment."
"Got a bit carried away in the heat of the moment"
Union Berlin's strong defense was particularly evident during their game against Leipzig, as the latter failed to score even from a penalty: Despite dominating the game, Leipzig could only manage a 0:0 draw against Union, meaning their club record of three consecutive wins remained intact. In front of 47,800 fans, Lois Openda missed a penalty in the 74th minute - the only real excitement in the rather uninteresting Bundesliga match. Before the social media controversy, the focus was initially on the absentees. Leipzig were without trainer Marco Rose, who was serving a yellow-red card suspension from the Leverkusen game. Rose was still on the pitch with his players during the warm-up, but handed over responsibility to assistant Alexander Zickler thirty minutes before kick-off.
Tragically, early Wednesday morning, part of the Carol Bridge, which crosses the Elbe, collapsed in Dresden. Fortunately, no one was injured. On Friday, another section collapsed during demolition work. The demolition and clearance work were expected to be completed on the New Town side by the evening, as announced by fire department spokesman Michael Klahre at midday. This would just in time for the expected water level of four meters on the Elbe in Dresden on Sunday morning, which would trigger alarm stage 1, according to the head of Dresden's environmental office, René Herold. The normal water level is around two meters.
Despite the focus on Union Berlin's strong defense and Leipzig's penalty miss in the game, Union Berlin's PR team caused a stir with a comment about Dresden's bridges on their social media platform. The team's apology followed after realizing their comment might be insensitive, given the recent collapse of Dresden's Carol Bridge. Although the demolition work on the bridge is expected to be completed soon, another section unfortunately collapsed during the demolition process.
