Third-division soccer club Alemannia Aachen is going into its match against 1. FC Saarbrücken with momentum on its side.

After two weeks, one thing is clear: Ilyas Trenz is an optimist. Alemannia Aachen’s interim coach was in his usual good spirits and confident ahead of the home game against 1. FC Saarbrücken. And with good reason.

His debut, a 2-1 away win against Wehen Wiesbaden last week, was a success. “Last Friday’s game confirmed that we are on the right track and gives us momentum,” he explained seven days later, emphasizing: “The commitment in defense, the aggressiveness and the courage with which we played make us confident. I sense a new dynamic in the team—something is developing. Our training has become more intense and we are playing with more courage.”

Why not follow up with another three points? Saarbrücken is the visiting team on Sunday evening (7:30 p.m.). Floodlights. Tivoli. “We have very high expectations of ourselves. The fans will take care of everything else. It’s going to be a great atmosphere, and we know what it takes to make this evening special,” said Trenz.
Especially since things aren’t going particularly well for the Saarlanders. They haven’t won in five games, most recently suffering two defeats in a row. “Even though they haven’t won recently, they are an absolute top team and have a very experienced coach who knows exactly what words to choose before the game. We expect the best possible opponent and we’re looking forward to it, because it always takes two teams to make it a special evening. We can’t influence what the opponent does, but we can influence our own performance, and we’ve worked hard on that during the week.”

Especially on defense. “We have to defend excellently against them and can’t allow them much. Saarbrücken doesn’t have to play well to score goals – that deserves a lot of respect. Especially in phases when you are dominant yourself, they can strike at any time. That warns us, but it doesn’t stop us from trusting our strengths,” explained Trenz.

The coach will still have to do without Mika Hanraths and Fabio Torsiello. Lukas Scepanik, Nils Winter, Matti Wagner, Gianluca Gaudino, and Niklas Castelle are also unavailable.

However, 21,500 fans will be in attendance, including around 1,200 from Saarland.