FC Erzgebirge Aue have not lost their last two games. With a win against 1. FC Heidenheim, the Saxons could move to within one point of the relegation place.
When FC Erzgebirge and Heidenheim met for the first time in a competitive match twelve years ago, Marc Hensel was still on the pitch. While the former player now sits on the Aue bench, the same coach is still on the sidelines at Heidenheim today as he was during the Saxons’ 1-0 defeat.
Aue and Heidenheim have faced each other 15 times in a competitive match so far, with Schmidt missing only once due to illness. “I think by now he has played us in every system there is,” Hensel said ahead of Sunday’s 16th clash. “Frank Schmidt is a coach who always comes up with something.”
Hensel has to counter his counterpart’s creativity with something, because for Aue, the situation in the table is precarious despite four points from two games most recently: in 17th place and four points behind the saving shore, the Saxons are “under pressure week in, week out”, as the team boss put it. With a win, Aue could move to within one point of SV Sandhausen, who are in the relegation places and whose game against FC St. Pauli was cancelled due to 18 Corona cases.
Hensel: Fandrich suspension also “chance” for other players
Creativity is also needed from Hensel himself – not only against Heidenheim, but also in the coming months after Aue’s regular Clemens Fandrich was suspended for seven months by the DFB Sports Court for assaulting an assistant referee “We will miss him extremely as a leader and because of his playing quality, but other players will have to step into the breach for him now. This is also an opportunity for everyone. “