Elversberg vs. Heidenheim preview: Who will play Bundesliga football next season? | OneFootball

One of the most entertaining games of German football will take place on Monday, the 26th of May between Elversberg and Heidenheim - only one of those teams will play Bundesliga football in 2025/26!

It's the second-leg of the traditional Bundesliga relegation/promotion play-off; the first-leg ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw, which included a second-half comeback by Bundesliga outfit Heidenheim after being 2-0 down at half-time.

The return leg on Monday will be played at Elversberg's Waldstadion an der Kaiserlinde. Should Elversberg prevail, they'd become the 1st team out of the federal state of Saarland to play in Germany's highest tier since 1992/93!

What happened in the first-leg?

After a chaotic and wild start to the game from both sides, Elversberg managed to gain the upper hand on Heidenheim by opening the score in the 18th minute.

Just before half-time, Elversberg's fan scene erupted thanks to their team doubling their lead - Heidenheim were not able to stop the stubborn and aggressive playing style from the 2.Bundesliga team.

Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt knew he had to change up his team following a disappointing first-half: he made three changes during half-time and brought on Paul Wanner, Bruno Zivzivadze and Leo Scienza.

These changes helped Heidenheim in turning the game around: Scienza especially was crucial for the hosts and played a key role in leveling the score. The 2-2 draw was a deserved result in the end, even though Elversberg were a little bit unlucky in the way they conceded.

Elversberg coach Horst Steffen was happy with his team's performance, even though they were not able to hold on to their lead. In an interview after the game, Steffen said: “I believe we showed tonight that we are able to get past a Bundesliga team and we will give it our all to achieve our dream of reaching the Bundesliga on Monday at home.”

Team news and predicted line-ups

Elversberg will still be counting on their goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof, regardless of his two blunders in the first-leg. Centre-back Lukas Pinckert will most likely return to the starting eleven after his suspension and play next to Florian Le Joncour, displacing Maximilian Rohr.

Beside that one change, Elversberg are likely to field the same starting eleven from the first-leg, containing the two goalscorers Lukas Petkov and Fisnik Asllani and star player Muhammed Damar.

Heidenheim are likely to field their XI from the second half of the first-leg: that would mean, that Niklas Dorsch and Adrian Beck would miss out on the starting eleven in favour of Leo Scienza and Paul Wanner, who helped Heidenheim in creating more and better chances to win the game.

Questionable is however, whether coach Frank Schmidt will rely on Marvin Pieringer or Budu Zivzivadze as his lone striker for the game.

While the drama of last year's relegation battle between Bochum and Düsseldorf (0-3; 0-3; 5-6 to Bochum after penalties) will be hard to surpass, Heidenheim and Elversberg will definetly be in for a night to remember. Let's see who will come out on top in the end!