Marie-Louise Eta is poised to become the first woman in history to take charge of a men's team in the German Bundesliga. The deputy of Marco Grote, coach of the U-19 team of Union Berlin, will be put in charge of the first team, a post that will be inherited by Urs Fischer.
Surprisingly, two days ago, Benjamin Eta, Marie-Louise's husband and also the coach, was fired from Weiche Flensburg (German fourth division team). Returning to Union Berlin, the team to which Napoli's Champions League rivals Leonardo Bonucci moved in the summer, have not picked up a point since the end of August in the Bundesliga.
As a result, the separation from the Swiss coach Fischer (with whom they have consensually terminated the contract), one of the main architects of the incredible rise of Union Berlin since his arrival in July 2018, was made official.
"For me personally, and perhaps for all Union Berlin fans, this is a very sad moment," said Dirk Zingler, club president. "I'm sorry that we couldn't stop the negative trend of the last few weeks."
Fischer has been on the bench since Union Berlin were promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time in 2019. He then guided the German side to the Conference League in 2021 and the Europa League the following year.
Last season, the club from the German capital was the big surprise, leading the Bundesliga for a period and eventually finishing in fourth place, thus qualifying for the Champions League. After being drawn in a group with Real Madrid, Napoli and Sporting Braga, the German team took just one point in four games (in 'Maradona' against Rudi Garcia's Napoli).
The Bundesliga season started positively with three wins, but since then Union Berlin's journey has turned into a nightmare, with a run of 14 games without a win, 13 consecutive defeats and then a draw at Napoli, from August 28, in all competitions.