Heidenheim fact file
Thursday, 18. April 2019, 10:00 Uhr
The Boys in Brown travel to FC Heidenheim on Easter Sunday for their third last away game of the season (kick-off: 1330 CET). As usual, we’ve taken a closer look at our forthcoming opponents.
Record-breaking season
Heidenheim’s fifth season in the second division is their best to date. A 1-0 win at Aue last week saw them leapfrog the Boys in Brown into sixth place, just three points behind the play-off spot. With five games left to play, Frank Schmidt’s side have already amassed 46 points, more than their total hauls in the 2014/15 and 2016/17 campaigns.
Defensive bulwark
Heidenheim have conceded just 34 goals this term, the third lowest total in Bundesliga 2. Only Union Berlin (28) and HSV (32) have kept a tighter ship. Frank Schmidt’s team lead the way in two categories. They have only conceded one goal on the break, for example, and in the second half they have been breached just 16 times. By comparison, bottom side MSV Duisburg have shipped 37 goals after the interval, the Boys in Brown 26.
On the verge of an upset
While the Boys in Brown fell at the first hurdle yet again in the DFB Cup this season, losing 3-2 after extra-time at Wehen Wiesbaden, Heidenheim made it all the way to the quarter-final after victories over SSV Jeddeloh II (5-2), SV Sandhausen (3-0) and Bayer Leverkusen (2-1) and came within a whisker of reaching the semi-final. Frank Schmidt’s charges were outstanding at Bayern Munich but eventually went down 5-4 after 90 minutes – and not after extra-time or penalties as the result might suggest. Goals from Robert Glatzel and Marc Schnatterer gave Heidenheim a 2-1 half-time lead, but an understrength Bayern side registered three times in 12 second-half minutes to go 4-2 up. Two more Glatzel strikes drew Heidenheim level at 4-4 before Robert Lewandowski converted a penalty to see off the plucky second-division side.
Marksman
Robert Glatzel has demonstrated his goalscoring ability all season, not just in the aforementioned cup-tie. Despite missing eight games through injury in the first half of the campaign, the striker has notched 12 goals in 21 appearances and tops the internal scoring chart ahead of Marc Schnatterer on nine. His shots-to-goals ratio of 0.28 (12 goals from 43 attempts) is bettered only by Cologne’s Simon Terodde (28 goals from 93 attempts = 0.3) and Sandhausen’s Andrew Wooten (12 goals from 40 attempts = 0.3).
Photos: Witters
