Leonardo Bonucci’s Union Berlin have parted company with legendary coach Urs Fischer and made history, as Napoli’s Champions League opponents are the first Bundesliga side with a female assistant manager.
The Italy international joined Union Berlin as a free agent from Juventus over the summer and found a very different situation to the one they had last year, which saw them secure fourth place in the Bundesliga and Champions League qualification.
They were on an extraordinary run of 13 consecutive defeats in all competitions until the 1-1 draw with Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
That contributed to getting Rudi Garcia sacked and replaced by Walter Mazzarri.
It also did not manage to avoid a departure in Berlin, as Urs Fischer and assistant Markus Hoffmann are leaving by mutual consent after five transformative years at the helm.
Union Berlin have looked in-house for an interim manager, choosing Marco Grote, who had been the coach of the Under-19 team.
Curiously, his assistant is Marie-Louise Eta, who becomes the first ever woman assistant manager at a Bundesliga club.
She was a former player who retired in 2019 and began working in coaching at youth level.