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

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

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

Why not follow that up with three points right away? Saarbrücken is coming to town on Sunday evening (7:30 p.m.). Floodlights. Tivoli. “We have very high expectations of ourselves. The fans will take care of the rest. It’s going to be a great atmosphere, and we know what it takes to make this an extra special evening,” said Trenz.

Especially since things aren’t going particularly well for the team from the Saarland. They haven’t won in five games and have even suffered two straight losses recently. “Even though they haven’t won recently, they’re an absolute top-tier team and have a very experienced coach who knows exactly what to say before the game. We’re expecting the best possible opponent, and we’re looking forward to it, because it always takes two teams to make for a special evening. We can’t control what the opponent does, but we can control our own performance—and we’ve been working intensively on that all week.”

Especially on defense. “We have to play excellent defense against them and can’t give them many chances. Saarbrücken doesn’t need to be playing well to score goals—that deserves a lot of respect. Especially during phases when we’re dominating, they can strike at any moment. That serves as a warning, 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 about 1,200 from the Saarland.