In the Regionalliga Nordost, the battle for the championship is very exciting. VSG Altglienicke could develop into a title contender in recent weeks.
While the title fight in the Regionalliga West is as good as decided and Preußen Münster has been able to pull ahead of the competition, things are heating up in the Regionalliga Nordost. There are just seven points between the leaders Energie Cottbus and the fifth-placed Chemnitzer FC.
One team that has surprisingly entered the championship fray is VSG Altglienicke. The regional league team is currently by far the most in-form team in the league and has collected 15 points from the past five games – more is not possible!
Especially impressive: Altglienicke did not concede a single goal in all five games. Thanks to this strong series, the club climbed to fourth place in the table and is only seven points behind the leaders – in addition, VSG has played two games less.
This year, head coach Karsten Heine’s strong defence has been the key asset of the team. Both away games at the two best teams in the league – Erfurt and Cottbus – were won 2:0. In this form, anything is possible for the club from Berlin.
A guarantor for the current upswing is captain Philipp Zeiger. The former Rot-Weiss Essen player is the head of defence in the three-man backline and is one of the Heine team’s absolute top performers with his tackling and heading skills. In addition, he has already scored three goals as a centre-back in the current season. In this category, only Tim Campulka (Chemnitzer FC, 5 goals) and Jonas Hildebrandt (Energie Cottbus, 4 goals) are ahead of the 32-year-old.
Zeiger played for Rot-Weiss Essen for six years
The VSG captain was on the field for the full time in 19 of the 21 league games – once he was already substituted after a 5:0 half-time lead at the break. Zeiger moved to VSG Altglienicke in the summer of 2020, having previously spent six years lacing up his boots for Rot-Weiss Essen.
The 1.94-metre tall player played 175 competitive games for the traditional club from Hafenstraße and was a fixture in central defence for several seasons. If Altglienicke can confirm their form in the next few months, there could even be a reunion with RWE soon – in the 3rd division…