On August 25th at 19:30, the third round of the new season of the German Second Division will see Magdeburg host Schalke 04 at home. Magdeburg is aiming for their first home win of the season, while Schalke 04 hopes to take revenge and secure their second win of the league season.Magdeburg was a mid-to-lower table team in the Second Division last season, with a record of 9 wins, 11 draws, and 14 losses from 34 matches, scoring 46 goals and conceding 54, placing them 14th in the league table, six points ahead of the relegation zone. In the two derby matches of the new season, the team first drew with Energie Cottbus at home, then won 3-1 away against Braunschweig. In the first round of the DFB-Pokal, the team lost 1-2 away to Kickers Offenbach.
Magdeburg’s best historical achievement has been reaching the German Second Division. Although they have won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in history, Magdeburg has not played in the Bundesliga since the reunification of Germany. The team has shown tenacity and some offensive ability in this season’s games, but also exposed many defensive issues in other matches.
Schalke 04’s record this season is one win and one loss, scoring six goals and conceding four, currently ranking 11th. In the first game, they beat Braunschweig 5-1, but lost 1-3 to Nuremberg in the second round. In the first round of the DFB-Pokal, they won 2-0 away against Alemannia Aachen.
Schalke 04 finished only tenth in the league last season. This season, the team made significant adjustments to its lineup, spending 2.5 million euros to bring in forward Issa from French Ligue 2 side Pau FC, signing central defender Felipe Sanchez from Argentinian club Estudiantes de La Plata, acquiring Emil Hjulmand from Copenhagen, defender Gaeten Bong from Swiss league side Winterthur, goalkeeper Patrick Hofmann and left-back Dominik Drexler from Braunschweig, signing midfielder Manuel Bachmann on a free transfer from Hansa Rostock, and bringing in central defender Wawrzyniak on a free transfer from Belgian side Charleroi. … This week, the team also signed new forwards Hammash and defender Nüddel, among others, clearly strengthening the team’s overall strength compared to last season.
From the matches of the new season, the team’s attack has indeed improved, but the defense still needs to be gelled. At the pre-match press conference before this match, team coach Heiderlass said: “The newcomers need some time to gel.”
In the previous encounter, Magdeburg defeated Schalke 04 3-0 at home. Regarding that match, Heiderlass said: “We must change everything that went wrong in the first half of that match. Our attack lacked aggression back then, and we gave away easy balls. This time, we must be very efficient. Magdeburg has excellent players, and the team is very flexible.”
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