Everything seemed to be going against them. In the 56th minute, SV Elversberg were 3–1 down to Borussia Mönchengladbach in their first-ever Bundesliga away match. Prior to that, head coach Vincent Wagner had already been sent to the stands after being shown a second yellow card for complaining about a wrong decision by the referee in the build-up to the second goal. But this team from the town of 13,000 in the Saarland never give up! Maurice Krattenmacher , who came through the FC Bayern youth system and is one of several highly promising talents in the Elversberg squad, came off the bench shortly afterwards and provided the decisive spark for an incredible comeback. Krattenmacher and Felix Keidel levelled the score at 3–3 with their goals, but that wasn't all: in stoppage time, Krattenmacher netted again to secure SVE's second win in their second match.
A week earlier, Elversberg had already celebrated a sensational start to their Bundesliga campaign. Against hot favourites Bayer 04 Leverkusen , the Saarland side put in a superb performance and were 3–0 up after 46 minutes. Although Leverkusen fought back to 3–2 in the closing stages, Elversberg ultimately secured a well-deserved win to get off to a perfect start.
Elversberg is the fourth Bundesliga club from the Saarland, following 1. FC Saarbrücken, FC 08 Homburg and Borussia Neunkirchen. In recent years, the club has achieved a rise that is virtually unparalleled. In the 2021/22 season, after eight years in the Regionalliga, they made the leap to the third division. This was merely a stepping stone, however, as SVE marched straight on to Bundesliga 2. After finishing 11th in their maiden season in the second tier, Elversberg secured third place in their second term, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, where they were narrowly beaten by 1. FC Heidenheim . A year later, however, the Saarland side celebrated their historic promotion to the top flight of German football.
To fuel their rise, SV Elversberg have for years relied on a strategy of fielding a small number of experienced players alongside numerous young talents, some of them on loan from bigger clubs. In recent years, for example, Nick Woltemade , Paul Wanner and Fisnik Asllani have all played for SVE. Currently, the Saarland-based club has on loan, amongst others, Germany youth internationals Francis Onyeka and Noah Darvich , as well as the second tier's top scorer last season, Noel Futkeu . In addition, Elversberg have signed talented players such as Maurice Krattenmacher and Cole Campbell on permanent deals.
Coach Vincent Wagner usually sets his team up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. In front of goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof , the defence against FCB is likely to consist of Jan Gyamerah , Lukas Pinckert , Maximilian Rohr and Lasse Günther, who played for FC Bayern at youth level. Felix Keidel and Lukasz Poreba usually form the central midfield pairing. Behind striker David Mokwa, Lukas Petkov , Francis Onyeka and Cole Campbell are likely to feature.
Elversberg have particularly impressed with their efficiency over the first two matchdays. Almost one in three of the Saarland side's 23 shots on target so far have found the back of the net. With seven goals, SVE boast the best attack alongside FC Augsburg at this early stage of the season. Elversberg are particularly dangerous on the break – their eight attempts and two goals from counter-attacks are both the highest of any team in the competition, so the Bavarians will have to be on their guard ahead of this first-ever encounter.
The facts on the clash:
Bayern head into first-ever clash at Elversberg on the back of a strong run
