Just three days after the league game on Saturday, FCH will be challenged again at Borussiapark on Tuesday.
Already active against Gladbach with Alemannia Aachen as a player: FCH coach Frank Schmidt. imago sports photography service
A lot is new for 1. FC Heidenheim in this very first Bundesliga season. But now there is a first that has nothing directly to do with league membership. For the first time, FCH will play twice away from home against the same opponent within four days. The Bundesliga game is in Gladbach on Saturday, and then on Tuesday we go to Borussia again in the second round of the DFB Cup. A double chance, so to speak, for the promoted team to improve their previously poor away record.
At least in the cup it is still flawless, in the first round the Heidenheimers recorded a befitting 8-0 win over Rostocker FC. In the league, however, they have only been able to get one point in four games away from home – with the other being Borussia in Dortmund (2:2).
However, coach Frank Schmidt’s team has to cope with and deal with the bitter setback this week that the FCH, which was previously so strong on the Schlossberg, had to accept in the 2:5 defeat against Augsburg.
Mainka: “This is another incredibly important game”
“There will be a need for discussion, it will come down to simple things, so we have to show a different consistency against Gladbach,” demands captain Patrick Mainka, “but the Gladbachers will also want to show a reaction, it’s again about duels and second balls. This is another incredibly important game.”
After a major upheaval in the squad with their new coach Gerardo Seoane, the Gladbachers are lagging behind their own demands and, with one point less, are also two places behind Heidenheim and have to digest the defeat at the bottom of the table in Cologne. So there is a lot at stake for the hosts too.
Two people from Heidenheim have already had positive and negative experiences in Gladbach. Tim Kleindienst scored his first Bundesliga goal there on the penultimate matchday of the 2017/18 season. The Heidenheim striker, who was successful from the game for the first time this season after two penalty goals against Augsburg, was unable to prevent SC Freiburg from losing 3-1 at Borussia Park.
Coach Schmidt was also active twice in the 2nd league as a player for Alemannia Aachen in Gladbach. In September 1999 he celebrated a 2-1 win with Alemannia and scored from the penalty spot to give Aachen a 1-0 lead. Two years later, Schmidt and the Alemanni had a bad day. Schmidt not only picked up a 6-1 defeat, but also received his only sending off as a professional. At that time, Schmidt had to leave the field after the second yellow-red warning.
Let’s see what the “double game day” in Gladbach has in store for Kleindienst, Schmidt and the Heidenheimers this time.
2023-10-26 12:48:21
#Schmidt #thrown #pitch #Gladbach
