For mathematical reasons alone, the trip by 1. FC Union Berlin to VfL Wolfsburg this Saturday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) must be regarded as a real final.

Union has accumulated 37 points in the style of diligent workers, three more and the neuralgic mark of 40 points would be reached.

According to general calculation practice, this is necessary in order to be able to compete in the Bundesliga next year.

And that's what the Berliners are after, if you believe their public accounts.

Modesty may be a noble quality, but in the case of 1. FC Union it can hardly be distinguished from low-level behavior.

Of course, Union will also be first class for the new season.

Coach Urs Fischer's team has been consistently in the top third of the table throughout the season and the more intriguing question is whether the club will qualify for international competition again.

And if so, for which one.

However, there is still something final about the encounter with VfL, at least when Urs Fischer has his way.

Union coach longs for an end to the debates about Max Kruse.

The striker who, with his goals, has always kept Union free of relegation worries in the past year and a half, but fled Berlin Köpenick in January in the direction of Wolfsburg.

The change not only came as a surprise to outsiders, it also offered interesting insights into the inner lives of both parties.

What was surfacing wasn't exactly friendly to the other side.

Smaller and larger shots were thrown at each other, and Kruse's camp could feel confirmed when VfL started collecting points after his arrival (seven points from the last four games) and Union lost all the first three matches after the striker's departure .

Kruse wanted to play more often

Against this background, the last week was all the more important for the Berliners.

On Saturday they beat Mainz (3-1) in the first game of the post-Kruse era, and then on Tuesday after beating St. Pauli (2-1) they advanced to the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal.

The club last achieved that 21 years ago.

A special satisfaction.

Kruse had let it be known when he left that he didn't trust the team to make the big hit and that's why he left.

So now Kruse again in a direct encounter, and then the issue is settled.

Hope fisherman.

"Everything has really been said about that," says Union's coach, only to call out an exuberant compliment for his former player.

“Max has his qualities, he is a difference player.

For me, he's a bit of a creep who moves in spaces and perceives spaces like no other," says Fischer.

Their relationship had suffered more and more during the last few weeks together.

Kruse wished for more operating times, Fischer more discipline.

More and more he was tired of the constant concessions that Kruse's character demanded of him.

Fischer no longer has to deal with that, but he will have to find permanent solutions to compensate for Kruse's lack of goals and assists.

The two games against Mainz and St. Pauli showed what that could look like.

Union tried to get into the opposing third even faster and be even more aggressive on the second ball.

All in all, it looked more like the time before Kruse.

Only that Union now has more personal alternatives.

In attack, Andreas Voglsammer has recently played his way to the fore, he has already scored three times in all competitions this calendar year.

The striker could play from the start in Wolfsburg.

And show his former teammate Max Kruse that Union is over him.