Maximilian Wittek discusses VfL Bochum’s opening defeat against SV Darmstadt and explains what will be important on Sunday against SV Elversberg.

VfL Bochum got off to a disastrous start to the 2025/26 second division season with a 1-4 defeat at SV Darmstadt. The heavy defeat was analyzed intensively in the aftermath.

“We just weren’t there and didn’t implement what we had planned. You could say it was a bit of sleepiness, we were also too sloppy in many of our actions, the distances were too big. In the end, that’s why we got run over like that,” said left-back Maximilian Wittek, speaking candidly.

There was some harsh criticism after the disappointing start to the season. However, Wittek sees no reason to panic. “I think it would be fatal if we threw everything overboard now,” said the 29-year-old. “Obviously, a 1-4 defeat in the opening game is anything but thrilling; we imagined it would be different. But we’ve analyzed the whole thing and know what wasn’t good.”

On Sunday (August 10, 1:30 p.m.), VfL will play its first home game of the season. SV Elversberg, last season’s surprise team, will be the guest at Castroper Straße. When asked whether the team already has something to prove, Wittek replied: “I think we have something to prove in every game this year. Nevertheless, we will prepare just as professionally as we do for every other game.”

I hope we can spark some euphoria at home and deliver a good performance.

Maximilian Wittek

The Freising native is certainly looking forward to his first appearance in front of a home crowd. “We know it won’t be easy, but we’re obviously hoping that we can show a different side of ourselves in our home game with the fans behind us right from the start. I hope we can spark some euphoria at home and deliver a good performance. The main thing is that we get the three points,” said Wittek. Unlike Bochum, their upcoming opponents passed their first test with flying colors. Coach Vincent Wagner’s team narrowly defeated 1. FC Nürnberg 1-0 thanks to a late goal. Wittek explained what will be important for his team on Sunday: “We just have to take the fight to them from the start, be much more compact and not give any team as much space as we did in Darmstadt. In this league, it doesn’t matter which team it is, every team can exploit the space and hurt us. We learned that the hard way on Saturday and we can’t let it happen again.” with gp