After a 0-0 draw in Osnabrück on the opening day, Alemannia Aachen faces its first home game of the season against Hoffenheim’s U23 team on Saturday. The personnel situation remains tense.

Alemannia Aachen welcomes TSG Hoffenheim’s second team on Saturday (August 9, 2 p.m.) in its first home game of the third division season. 21,000 spectators are expected at the Tivoli.

Compared to last week’s opening game at VfL Osnabrück, when the Kaiserstädter fought to a 0-0 draw, not much has changed in terms of personnel, as head coach Benedetto Muzzicato reported at the pre-match press conference. This means that the German-Italian coach will once again have only 14 fit field players at his disposal.Muzzicato is cautiously optimistic about Bentley Baxter Bahn and Kevin Goden, who may be able to complete “perhaps a little more than partial training” in the next few days. Despite the few alternatives in his skeleton squad, the Alemannia coach announced changes to the starting eleven. For example, youngster Faton Ademi looks “very lively,” and Lukas Scepanik is also making “rapid progress.” The goalless draw in Osnabrück had an effect on the team, according to Muzzicato: “We still have a lot of room for improvement, but we’re on the right track.” At the moment, there is a lack of competition. “The higher the quality of training and the more guys are involved, the more progress you make. That’s why patience is needed. The guys are doing really well, even though we’re in small groups.”

Despite the difficult circumstances with many injuries and no transfers, the 46-year-old sees a positive development: “If you compare it to where we were six weeks ago, we’ve already made a big leap forward. It’s not yet what we had in mind, but that’s not possible after such a preparation period.”

Like Alemannia, TSG Hoffenheim’s U23 team started the season with a 0-0 draw. Muzzicato expects “a team with a lot of pace and clear processes. It’s not for nothing that they won promotion in a very strong Regionalliga Südwest.”

The Aachen coach did not want to repeat platitudes about how to take the joy out of playing for an U23 team. “It’s important to put the principles into practice on the pitch in order to put pressure on the opponent in every phase. That’s how you take the wind out of many teams right from the start. And that must always be our goal, to keep the pressure high not only with the ball but also against it,” demands Muzzicato.