Tough task away in Karlsruhe

A mere two years later and Karlsruhe had been relegated to the third tier for only the second time in the club’s history, a rapid turnaround considering Markus Kauczisnki’s side were merely seconds away from the top flight. Alois Schwartz was installed as manager in August 2017 after a dreadful start to the campaign, and managed to steady the ship, eventually guiding KSC to a third-place finish and a play-off against Erzgebirge Aue. Current HSV under-21 manager Hannes Drews got the better of Schwartz on that occasion, confining Karlruhe to a second consecutive season in the 3. Liga. Schwartz’s managerial prowess shone through during his full first season in charge, as Karlsruhe finished in second position behind VfL Osnabrück to secure promotion back to the second tier at the second time of asking.

The momentum from last campaign has been carried over into the new one, with an opening day 2-1 win away at fellow promoted side Wehen Wiesbaden followed up by an impressive 4-2 win over Dynamo Dresden at the Wildparkstadion. A 2-0 cup success over Hannover 96 was yet more evidence of the side’s quality, before the first loss of the season last time out away at Holstein Kiel.

Alois Schwartz’s side play in a classic 4-4-2 formation, looking to find their front men early and break with pace before finishing clinically. The strike duo of Marvin Pourié and Anton Fink proved too lethal for many 3. Liga defences in 2018/19, with Pourié grabbing 22 goals and 3. Liga all-time top scorer Fink adding 15 of his own. With Fink having been replaced by new signing Philipp Hofmann, the Hamburg defence will have to be wary of the attacking firepower that the home side possess, with both strikers having both already opened their accounts for the new campaign. 

Able to hold the ball up and bring others into play, Karlsruhe have had no problems with creating chances thus far, and, when given the chance, Pourié and Hofmann will not deliberate before accepting, scoring seven goals from a total of 28 chances, the best conversion rate in the league. Late runs into the box from Marvin Wanitzek should also not go unnoticed, and the midfield dynamo provided 6 goals and 7 assists from central midfield last season, whilst simultaneously running the show for Schwartz in midfield. The former Stuttgart man has already added four assists to his tally this season, with three of those coming in the league.

Located in Baden-Württemberg in the south-west of Germany, Karlsruhe’s home stadium is currently undergoing something of a facelift, meaning that the stadium’s capacity is severely reduced. In October 2018, the final decision was met by the Karlsruhe board to go ahead with the planned restructuring of the stadium. The athletics track which currently sits between the stands and the playing field will slowly be removed, stand-by-stand, with temporary stands also being erected at different parts of the stadium during different phases of the rebuild to ensure that the stadium’s capacity doesn’t dip under 15,000. If all goes to plan, the Wildparkstadion should have been turned into a 35,000-capacity football stadium by May 2022, costing the club some €123m. There shall be 15,000 fans packed into the stadium today, with 1,580 of those wearing Hamburg colours.