Alemannia Aachen is away to VfL Osnabrück on the first matchday of the new third division season. The Alemannen are traveling to the Bremer Brücke with major personnel problems.
Alemannia Aachen kicks off the 2025/26 third division season on Saturday (August 2, 2 p.m.) with an away game at VfL Osnabrück. 1,400 Alemannia fans will make the trip to Lower Saxony. New coach Benedetto Muzzicato, who has taken over from Heiner Backhaus, who left for Eintracht Braunschweig, is hoping for a successful start to the season. But just a few days before the kickoff, there are major concerns in the imperial city. The squad is still missing several new signings, and there are persistent injury worries. In their last test match against second division side Fortuna Düsseldorf (0-4), Alemannia could only field a mini squad, which was filled with youth players. On Saturday, Muzzicato will probably only have 14, at most 15, players available at the Bremer Brücke. At least Jeremias Lorch and Lamar Yarbrough are back after recent injuries, while Valmir Sulejmani is still a question mark. On the other hand, captain Mika Hanraths, Florian Heister, Kevin Goden, and Bentley Baxter Bahn are definitely out. “The team is almost picking itself,” said the Alemannia coach at the pre-match press conference about the thin squad.
Due to the many absences, it was hardly possible to prepare properly, and Muzzicato’s game plan has not been communicated as desired under these circumstances. “It’s still a long way from how I imagine it,” said the 46-year-old, who also had to reduce the intensity in recent days to prevent more players from getting injured.
“We have a lot of guys who don’t even know how good they are on the ball because they haven’t had to play for two years,” said the German-Italian about the tactical change the club is aiming for. Unlike his predecessor, who relied on strong pressing against the ball, Muzzicato wants to be more courageous when in possession. It will therefore take time to get the old routines out of their heads. “I’ve always shown the guys that we have to make the best of it. Because in the end, no one cares if you’ve only trained with twelve people for three weeks,” said the Aachen head coach, who does not want to use the difficult personnel situation as an excuse.
On Thursday, the club confirmed that Mika Hanrath will remain captain of Alemannia. During his absence due to injury, Sasa Strujic will take over the captain’s role on the pitch. The team council also includes Danilo Wiebe, Bentley Baxter Bahn, Lukas Scepanik, Gianluca Gaudino, and 19-year-old youngster Faton Ademi.