The Japan Times - Tiny Elversberg 'leave Earth's orbit' as Bayern come to town

Elversberg, a village with a population of just 13,000 and no train station, became the smallest in German league history to host a top-flight side this season.

The minnows have not been awed by the bright lights, either. Elversberg have won two from two this season, including a 3-2 win over 2023-24 double winners Bayer Leverkusen to open their maiden top-flight campaign.

Club technical director Josef Welzmueller credited hard work rather than wizardry for their achievement.

"I know that it sounds like magic or like a fairytale," Welzmueller told AFP this month, "(but) we did it step by step, and it didn't feel like a fairytale, to be honest."

Elversberg's home stadium usually has a capacity of just over 14,000, but is at 9,500 this campaign as it undergoes renovations to bring it to the Bundesliga minimum of 15,000.

Bayern's 75,000-capacity Allianz Arena could fit Elversberg's entire population five times.

Elversberg arrived in the Bundesliga after three promotions in five seasons, but faced plenty of setbacks along the way.

The club come from Saarland, Germany's smallest non-city state, and are not bankrolled by a wealthy benefactor.

After narrowly losing a two-legged relegation playoff against top-flight Heidenheim in 2025, Elversberg lost coach Horst Steffen to Werder Bremen.

As they pushed for promotion in 2025-26, Elversberg lost striker Younes Ebnoutalib to Eintracht Frankfurt and sporting director Nils-Ole Book to Borussia Dortmund.

Book's departure in particular was tipped to clip Elversberg's wings, but the club won automatic promotion.

- Identity 'bigger than everything' -

Welzmueller, Book's replacement, said the club's unwavering commitment to their identity insulated them from these departures.

"We choose the players that fit our playing style, we chose the coach and the staff that fit the playing style, so we can't change anything," Welzmueller said.

The 36-year-old said Elversberg's faith in their identity even meant rejecting that most modern of football dogmas: data.

"We did a huge data analysis if we should change the playing style.

"We were looking at the numbers, and it would make sense to change and avoid mistakes in your build up play, and play long balls and all of that.

"This was the result of this analysis, but then we sat together and said, 'hey, we made the playing style part of our identity and this is bigger than everything'."

After stunning Leverkusen, Elversberg were 3-1 down at Borussia Moenchengladbach last weekend but fought back, scoring three goals to take the match 4-3 and stun the hosts.

Bayern have won 13 of the past 14 German league titles but will be two points behind Elversberg when the ball rolls on Sunday.

Welzmueller, a childhood Bayern fan who wrote his doctoral thesis in partnership with the Bavarian giants, recognises how outrageous it sounds to play host to the six-time Champions League winners.

"I grew up as an FC Bayern Munich fan and an FC Bayern family. So being able to face them now in a league match is insane for me," said Welzmueller, but added: "We have so much respect for the Bundesliga, but we don't fear anybody."

Adding to the task is that Elversberg will be without coach Vincent Wagner on Sunday.

Wagner picked up two yellow cards in the first-half on Saturday and will watch from the stands, pending an appeal.

Speaking to Kicker on Thursday, Wagner said: "I'm not worried at all that we won't be able to handle things without me. I'd only worry if things always worked out without me."

Far from downplaying the significance of Sunday's match, Wagner said his side should embrace the scale of the challenge.

"Bayern are simply extremely good. We have a snowball's chance in the desert. But the beautiful thing is it's snowed in the desert before."

Having previously described the task of avoiding relegation as being like a trip to Mars, Wagner reminded the club how far they have already come.

"We've left Earth's orbit without burning up in the process. But the journey to Mars is still a long one."

K.Yamaguchi--JT