FC Heidenheim is undefeated in European business, but things are not going as planned in the championship.Bild: www.imago-images.de
FC Heidenheim was only promoted to the Bundesliga in 2023 and qualified for the UEFA Conference League in its first season. So far, the Heidenheimers have been able to win every game on the European stage. However, things are not going nearly as well in the league at the moment.
23.11.2024, 07:5423.11.2024, 14:20
follow meFor many Heidenheim fans, the last two seasons must have felt like a wonderful dream. First came the sensational promotion to the Bundesliga. Just one year later, FCH qualified for European business.
Things are also going well in the Conference League at the moment: In the first three games of the league phase, the Heidenheimers were able to win every game and qualification for the knockout phase can no longer be taken away from them.
The Heidenheimers have had a lot to celebrate in the Conference League so far.Bild: keystone
However, things aren't looking so great in domestic business: In the last five games of the Bundesliga, Heidenheim only collected one point and slipped to fourteenth place and on Saturday they will be guests at champions Bayer Leverkusen. If the direct competition scores behind Heidenheim, the team from Baden-Württemberg is threatened with falling into the relegation place.
After the game against Leverkusen, the tasks don't get any easier. First, the Heidenheimers welcome the currently third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt and a week later they go to the current leader and record champions Bayern Munich. But the Heidenheimers are almost obliged to score points in the difficult games if they don't want to get completely involved in the relegation battle.
The difficult second year
Despite the strong first season, FCH was often at the top before the new season when it came to the experts' relegation candidates. The additional burden of the European games also plays a part in this that should not be underestimated. Especially since Heidenheim doesn't have as much money available as the big teams. Apart from the two promoted teams St. Pauli and Holstein Kiel as well as the currently last-placed VfL Bochum, no club in the Bundesliga has a lower market value than Heidenheim.
In the Bundesliga, the Heidenheimers currently have to go through at the bottom.Bild: www.imago-images.de
In addition, Bundesliga newcomers traditionally have a difficult time in their second year. The opponents are now better prepared for last year's newcomers and also know what to expect in the respective games. The departure of some key players in the summer doesn't make FCH's situation any easier.
Important permanent staff lost
One of them is offensive player Jan-Niklas Beste, who was responsible for 21 scorer points last season and moved to Benfica Lisbon in the summer. New national striker Tim Kleindienst, who scored twelve goals in the league last season, went to Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Heidenheim was able to borrow the top talent Paul Wanner from Bayern Munich. Wanner, who is only 18 years old, recently turned down a call-up to the German national team because he is not sure whether he would like to play for Austria.
Paul Wanner was loaned out to Heidenheim by Bayern.Bild: www.imago-images.de
The young Wanner had an excellent start to the season and coach Frank Schmidt raved about the midfielder:
«I trust Paul that he can play in any top team. I like that at 18 years old he has a clear plan in mind.”
Is the coaching legend irredeemable?
Frank Schmidt has been on the sidelines of FC Heidenheim for over seventeen years. When the club from Baden-Württemberg was still in the top league in September 2007, Schmidt was introduced as the new coach. In the first two seasons, two promotions in a row were achieved, and so Heidenheim took part in the 3rd league in the 2009/2010 season. After promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2014, Heidenheim was rarely involved in relegation battles, and historic promotion to the Bundesliga followed nine years later.
Frank Schmidt has been on the FC Heidenheim sidelines since 2007.Bild: keystone
The question that arises with further disappointing performances in the league: Can Heidenheim afford to fire Frank Schmidt? Probably not, because the club knows that last season in particular they performed above their own expectations and that the club is more likely to be fighting against relegation in the Bundesliga than for European places.
If the negative phase in the Bundesliga is not stopped, it could be possible that a decision similar to last year between Union Berlin and Urs Fischer could come about. At that time, the long-time Unioner coach and the club decided together to end their collaboration. Union had previously gone fourteen games in a row without a win and ended up in last place in the Bundesliga.
Union is now on the rise again:
But FC Heidenheim without Frank Schmidt would be unimaginable for many fans of the small town, which lies on the Brenz River and has fewer inhabitants than the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. No football coach in German professional football has been in office at a club longer than 50-year-old Frank Schmidt, who has a contract until 2027.
Now the difficult games in the Bundesliga are coming up for the first time, in which Heidenheim goes into the game as a clear outsider. But in recent years Heidenheim has caused a few surprises, so it wouldn't be surprising if one or two points were added to the Heidenheimers' account against the big names.
