Where to start when it comes to explaining 1. FC Union in spring 2022?

Maybe last Wednesday: The Berliners lost the semi-finals in the DFB Cup at RB Leipzig.

Not somehow, not randomly, but by conceding a goal in the proverbial last second.

The dream of a final in their own city was over, shattered by a header from Emil Forsberg in the second minute of added time.

You don't have to be a particularly pessimistic person to claim that the majority of Berlin players will probably never be as close to winning the cup as they were this April.

So you would have had more than one good reason to fall into a hole emotionally and athletically.

Nobody could have blamed them.

Especially since the schedule required them to play again three days later at the same place as part of the Bundesliga.

Again Leipzig, again at RB.

"It's brutally difficult for many teams, but we see it as a challenge.

We love such challenges as a team.

We said beforehand that if anyone can do it, we can,” said Christopher Trimmel.

On Wednesday, the Union captain was still in the dugout after the final whistle, and on Saturday he was beaming.

His side had won, 2-1, giving Leipzig a good swig of their own medicine.

Union goals came late, both in the closing stages, after the Kopenickers fell behind early in the second half.

Yussuf Poulsen scored.

Then came Union.

Sven Michel and Kevin Behrens turned the game around.

Both had come from the bank.

"We keep mentioning how important substitutes are, especially at a time like this.

Today they made the difference,” said Trimmel.

If two substitutes decide the game, the focus is automatically on whoever sent them onto the field.

Urs Fischer has been hailed as the architect of Berlin's success since he was promoted to the Bundesliga in 2019.

In Leipzig he again had the right ideas at the right time.

"The coaching team did a good job and prepared us for the game.

We knew that Leipzig was also rotating a bit, the plan worked out perfectly," said Trimmel.

So far, Fischer has succeeded in developing his team every year.

This winter he faced a daunting task.

During the change period, Marvin Friedrich and Max Kruse left 1. FC Union, both of whom were extremely important pillars of the team.

Friedrich's uncompromising nature and Kruse's understanding of the game could not be replaced immediately, Union went through a phase of weakness in the winter, which some believed could become the new normal.

It wasn't because Fischer's level-headed manner gave confidence to new players who had previously been overshadowed by Friedrich and Kruse.

The young Paul Jaeckel is now used more often in defence, and Kruse's lack of flashes of inspiration compensates for Fischer with sheer speed.

As a striker, he settled on the robust, accurate Taiwo Awoniyi and the even faster Sheraldo Becker.

Both harmonize like no other Berlin duo since the rise.

If both exhaust themselves like on Wednesday or now on Saturday, Fischer have enough alternatives, in this case it was Behrens and Michel.

The latter had come from Paderborn during the winter break to replace Kruse.

He praised his new team-mates enthusiastically after the win.

"I don't think that many teams that lost a game so narrowly in the 92nd minute on Wednesday would have played like that today," said Michel.

"I'm so happy to be a part of it." A "bit of balm for the soul" is the victory for all of them.

Apart from the ideal value, the success also had a mathematical value, the three points are enormously important for the European Cup hopes of 1. FC Union.

"The new goal is that we want to stay up there as long as possible," said Trimmel and then gave an insight into the team's work ethic: "We will not be giving any additional days off, but we are preparing for that next game,” said Trimmel.

There is currently no better way to explain 1. FC Union.