Coach Fischer: Union have something to lose, not win, in top four bid

Union Berlin coach Urs Fischer has given up his reservations and said on Thursday that his team is gunning for a Champions League debut with a top-four finish in the Bundesliga.
Union are fourth, one point behind RB Leipzig and ahead of fifth-placed Freiburg on goal difference.
They face Freiburg on the third-last matchday on Saturday in a game that could determine the fate of both sides regarding the European elite event.
Until recently Union officials had been cautious with the season aim but now even Fischer has joined those saying that the Champions League is the aim.
"I had to read last week that we have nothing to lose but only to win. But I am not really sure if that is correct if you have been in the top four on 29 of the 31 matchdays," he said.
"Now there is a possibility to stay fourth, or maybe come third, but at the same time you can also be sixth."
Fischer said "you can feel a certain tension" ahead of the date with Freiburg who lost at home to Leipzig last weekend to drop out of the top four.
Freiburg, who have also never played Champions League before, have forward Roland Sallai back after he was not in the squad against Leipzig, and coach Christian Streich said they are not afraid of Union's unbeaten home record since February 2022.
"We have put an end to many streaks before," Streich said, aiming for his players to defy the pressure and "as freely as possible."
Fischer meanwhile agreed that Union have come a long way since he took them over in 2018 when they were still in the second division.
"What my task was when I came here? To stabilise the whole thing a little bit and to improve in the standings," he said.
Fischer led Union into the top flight in his first year, and in the Bundesliga they have since then finished 11th, seventh and fifth.
"It has really only gone uphill in all these five years," Fischer said.