Elversberg against Heidenheim: Who will secure promotion to the Bundesliga?

Elversberg against Heidenheim: Who will secure promotion to the Bundesliga?

On May 26, 2025, the teams from SV Elversberg and 1. FC Heidenheim will meet in the relegation second leg at 8:30 p.m. The outcome of the first leg, which ended 2-2, increases the tension before the decisive match. In the first leg, SV Elversberg had a 2-0 lead before Heidenheim came back and equalized. This second leg could be of historical importance for Elversberg: if promoted, the club would become the 59th club in the history of the Bundesliga and the smallest city with a Bundesliga team (with 13,089 inhabitants), as derwesten.de reported.

The first encounter was an exciting and offensive duel, with Heidenheim being closer to the winning goal in the end. Elversberg, on the other hand, had to be careful not to go into the second leg with a deficit. Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt was optimistic about his team's return after the first leg. In the first half of the first leg, Elversberg scored two goals, through Petkov in the 17th and Asllani in the 39th minute. However, Heidenheim came back, equalized through Honsak in the 63rd minute and missed further chances for victory in the final phase.

Factors for the second leg

Relegation to the German Bundesliga has been an integral part of German football since 1982. Since 2008/09 it has been played between the third-to-last team in the Bundesliga and the third-placed team in the 2nd Bundesliga. The aim of these games is to determine the last participants of the next season in the higher league, as described on Wikipedia. In the last 16 relegation rounds, 13 of 16 rounds have decided in favor of the first division team, which confirms Heidenheim's role as favorite.

The second leg will be broadcast live on free TV on Sat.1 and in the live stream on ran.de. The referee line-up has also been decided: Sven Jablonski will referee the game, while Günter Perl will work as a video assistant. The final weeks of the 2023/24 season were intense for Heidenheim, who played in the Conference League qualifiers, while Elversberg surprised in the 2nd league and fought their way into relegation.

Observers are curious to see whether Elversberg can seize the opportunity to make history, while Heidenheim will do everything in their power to assert themselves in the Bundesliga. Both coaches, Frank Schmidt and Horst Steffen, are the longest-serving in their clubs and have already decided which team will play on the big stage next season. The advance information and high expectations create an atmosphere of anticipation for this crucial football evening.