SV Elversberg, a club from a town of just over 13,000 people, defeated Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 on their top-flight debut, a result that has been hailed as proof that fairytales still exist in German football. The win, secured on the opening Saturday of the season, marks the first time a team from the Saarland region has won a Bundesliga match since 1993.
A historic debut for the "miracle village"
Elversberg, representing the town of Spiesen-Elversberg, situated 15km north-east of Saarbrücken and a 30-minute drive from the French border, took a stunning 3-0 lead within the first 10 minutes and just after half-time. Two goals in the space of 60 seconds in the opening minutes, followed by a third just 25 seconds after the restart, left the home crowd at the Ursapharm Arena in disbelief.
The arena, currently undergoing renovation to increase its capacity to a modest 15,000, saw journalists covering the game from a temporary steel gantry on scaffolding, after receiving a safety briefing. Despite a late fightback from Leverkusen, with Patrick Schick and Christian Kofané both scoring, Elversberg held on for a famous victory.
Leverkusen's struggles and Elversberg's key players
Leverkusen, who had sold nearly €300m of players and appointed new coach Carles Martínez, looked rattled from the start. Edmund Tapsoba, the visitors' new captain, appeared more like a Bundesliga debutant as he was involved in the early errors that led to goals from Lukas Petkov and Cole Campbell.
Petkov, a Bulgarian midfielder who scored 13 goals and created six in the promotion campaign, also set up David Mokwa's goal at the start of the second half, which proved to be the winner. Campbell, a 20-year-old from Houston bought from Borussia Dortmund for €6m, started like a man on a mission, showcasing the step up in quality Elversberg has made.
Context and other results
Elversberg's victory was not a fluke, as they pressed and rattled Leverkusen from minute one. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich showed their might with a 5-1 win over Stuttgart, with Michael Olise scoring and Harry Kane not needing to score. Borussia Dortmund cruised to a 2-0 win over Hamburg but suffered a blow as new signing Giannis Konstantelias ruptured his ACL on his full debut.
In other results, Cologne came from behind to beat Hoffenheim 3-2, with new signing Thijs Dallinga scoring twice. Younes Ebnoutalib, Elversberg's former star, hit a hat-trick for Eintracht Frankfurt in a 3-3 draw at Union Berlin, saying "It's good for my mind" after the game. Schalke lost 3-0 at Augsburg, and Werder Bremen were beaten 4-1 at Freiburg.
