SV Burgaltendorf will host DJK Sportfreunde Katernberg under floodlights on Friday. We spoke to both coaches ahead of the Essen city derby in the district league.
SV Burgaltendorf are fourth in the Bezirksliga Group 6 table with 23 points, while DJK Sportfreunde Katernberg are seventh with just one point less. The city derby will take place on Friday evening (7 p.m.).
Sascha Fischer, coach of the guests from Katernberg, has great respect for the upcoming opponent. “We’re playing against the strongest team in the league. Burgaltendorf is a little behind expectations, but has a very good team that is strong. It would be a duel at eye level if we had all our men on board.”
Sportfreunde are struggling with a flu epidemic ahead of the match. “Many players had to call in sick during the week and I’m curious to see who I can count on for the game,” continued Fischer. “I certainly won’t know who will be on the pitch until an hour before kick-off. We don’t have a big squad anyway and when you have both injured and sick players, it’s going to be difficult.”
His counterpart Sascha Hense, meanwhile, expects the match to be an equal contest. “We’re very close together in the table. We’re looking forward to the game, it’s sure to be exciting,” said the SV Burgaltendorf coach. “I’m also good friends with Sascha Fischer. That adds that extra spice.”
So far, his team has not lost a game in its own stadium – and that should remain the case. “We’re playing at home under floodlights. We are strong at home and want to continue to enjoy that. We definitely want the three points.”
While the visitors from Katernberg have only picked up one point from their last two games, Burgaltendorf have taken the full haul with six points. For Burgaltendorf coach Hense, however, this is irrelevant: “Every game starts from scratch. In the league, it doesn’t matter how the last few games went. I’m not impressed by the statistics.”
Buddy Fischer sees it differently: “That certainly plays a role. They’re back in the flow, but we’re also doing quite well. The 4-4 draw at Mülheimer SV was annoying, we conceded the equalizer in stoppage time. In the defeat against Duisburger Fußballverein (4:2), we weren’t able to play with our best players.”
Jörg Oswald, head of sport at SV Burgaltendorf, declared before the season that promotion was the goal. However, the team from Essen are currently eleven points behind league leaders FC Blau-Gelb Überruhr. “I dream of so many things,” says coach Hense. “But the fact is that the table doesn’t lie and you can see who is running lonesome circles at the top and who stumbles from time to time.”
There are still a few games to go before the winter break, and Hense wants to take a game-by-game approach: “We’ll try to get the maximum out of every game and then see where we stand after the winter break. Of course, the best thing for the whole team would be to close the gap at the top.” Preferably directly in the floodlit derby on Friday