Football is actually the game of great emotions that makes people cry and can put the masses in intoxicated states of ecstasy, so the 6-1 victory at FC Schalke and the temporary jump to the top of the table would have been a suitable occasion for extravagant moments Euphoria required at Union Berlin.

But this disturbing side of their job is obviously suspect to the people of Köpenick.

In any case, coach Urs Fischer and the players, who later spoke publicly, did not even allow themselves a satisfied smile after the party in front of the fans.

As crystal clear as they had won, they assessed their success soberly.

"It will be important for us to classify this result correctly," said Fischer, who found the victory inappropriate.

"The 3-1 lead at the break was happy from my point of view, Schalke played better than us in the first half, were more aggressive, were more agile, we seemed sleepy, sometimes nervous," complained the Swiss.

And midfielder Janik Haberer said: "We also had phases with the ball, we weren't good there (...), we weren't always there defensively, we have to work through that."

Biggest Bundesliga win for Union

Those were surprisingly sober words, after all, the supporters of this idiosyncratic club have not been able to celebrate an even bigger victory in either the Bundesliga or the GDR Oberliga.

And FC Schalke have never lost so much in front of their home crowd.

It's debatable whether the result was a goal or two too high overall, but one thing is clear: Union Berlin were too strong for the promoted team, so Fischer finally let themselves be carried away in a dry praise.

"What was good: We were very efficient." They used eight shots on goal to score six goals, Sheraldo Becker and Sven Michel each scored twice.

This efficiency is new and perhaps only a temporary phenomenon, but the enormous stability and unshakeable order in the game have long been a reliable feature of the game of the team from the far east of the capital.

"Union Berlin doesn't have the quality of FC Bayern, but they stick very consistently to their structure," said Schalke defense chief Maya Yoshida in amazement and spoke of a "lesson".

This is exactly how a team should play that wants to be successful first and foremost through the power of the collective.

Schalke's coach Frank Kramer even praised Union as the "ideal image of every team" and that his team could "take a lesson from it".

Real healthy growth

The Berliners have apparently found a pace of development that seems perfectly suited to really healthy growth.

Year after year, important players are given up, like this year Taiwo Awoniyi or Grischa Prömel, but the search for the right successor always works.

This is not least due to the fact that the professionals who stay represent a framework that ensures lasting stability.

"They have built up the 3-5-2 system over the years," said Schalke sports director Rouven Schröder, who would like to set up something similar in Gelsenkirchen himself: Success through clever technical work with individual players, with the team and on the transfer market alike.

The newcomers Janik Haberer and Diogo Leite are already part of the

Even if the ranking at the end of August is still heavily influenced by the coincidences of the game plan, the second place in the table for the Berliners reflects the performance of the season so far quite well.

Of course, Fischer made it clear that he was only interested in the tableau "after the 34th matchday".

That may be, but it doesn't change the fact that the table gives the duel between Berlin and FC Bayern next Saturday a special explosiveness.

Because Dortmund, Leverkusen, Leipzig, Mönchengladbach and Frankfurt still appear to be fairly unfinished, the best teams in the league are actually meeting each other, and a visit to the Alte Försterei is one of the biggest challenges in the Bundesliga anyway.

Union has not lost there since February.

"We will try to use the home power that we have at the moment," said defender Robin Knoche, and another win would not only make the Bundesliga exciting.

It would also be extremely interesting to see what arguments the Berliners would then use to analyze soberly.