Plenty of us have been down the pub, a few pints in, talking utter nonsense about how we would transform the football clubs we support, only for it all to be forgotten amidst the following morning’s haze.

By Alex Roberts

Well, those behind the scenes at Elversberg must have asked the bartender for a pen and had a couple of waters while they were seeing off their beers, because their plan, formulated at a meeting in a pub, to take the tiny club from the German fourth tier to the Bundesliga is working.

Based in a town with a rough population of 13,000 and backed by local entrepreneurs, including father and son duo Dominik and Frank Holzer, with a strong community approach, rather than a vast transfer budget, Elversberg made the leap from the fourth tier to the 2 Bundesliga in three seasons.

In 2024/25 they faced huge clubs like Hamburg, FC Köln, and Schalke, who have a combined 17 Bundesliga titles between them, all vying to return to the top flight, and did much more than hold their own.

Elversberg finished third, meaning they would have to face the Bundesliga’s 16^th placed side, FC Heidenheim, in a two-legged play-off to determine whether they would go up or stay where they are.

The first leg was away at the Voith-Arena. At half time, everything was looking rosy for Horst Steffen’s promotion hopefuls, with goals from Lukas Petkov and Fisnik Asllani giving them a comfortable 2-0 lead.

Then, two goals in just two minutes from FC Heidenheim turned what would have been a great result into an okay one. As they say, 2-0 is the most dangerous scoreline in football, just ask Mikel Arteta.

Steffen’s lads still had every right to feel confident heading into the second leg at home having out played Heidenheim in the first. Just nine minutes in though, that confidence melted away and anxiety started to set in.

Winger Mathias Honsak gave Heidenheim the lead after going one-on-one with ‘keeper Nicolas Kristof. Just after the 30-minute mark, then Elversberg captain Robin Fellhauer managed to restore parity.

Elversberg continued to dominate the game but couldn’t do anything with all their possession. Heidenheim knew they would have their chance, and it finally happened in the 95^th minute when Leo Scienza snatched their late winner.

It was a devastating defeat, but one of the most beautiful things about football is that, until the planet explodes, there is always going to be another season. Elversberg took some time, reset, and made sure they were ready to go again.

They had a BUSY summer. Elversberg have heavily utilised the loan market throughout their journey up the leagues, meaning there is always a lot of chopping and changing in pre-season. 

Elias Baum, Muhammed Damer, Otto Stange, and Frederik Jäkel all returned to their respective parent clubs, but the biggest miss on the pitch will be Asllani. The Kosovan forward, now back at Hoffenheim, was Eversberg’s top scorer with 18 goals and eight assists in the league last season.

Their starting double-pivot also left, with Semih Sahin heading to Kaiserslautern and Robin Fellhauer joining FC Augsburg in the Bundesliga. The vultures came picking, and expectations heading into the new season were low.

The biggest change came in the dugout, however. Steffen, the man responsible for this remarkable story, couldn’t resist the allure of Werder Bremen, and was named as their replacement for Ole Werner, who had joined RB Leipzig. Steffen lasted six months.

So, who do you bring in to replace the man who had done it all? Well, Elversberg landed on Vincent Wagner from Hoffenheim II, offering him his first job in senior management. It was a huge risk, but one that is, so far, paying off.

Again, Elversberg turned to the loan market with a few free transfers and just €3.17m spent to bolster their squad. Compared to the budget of a side like Hertha Berlin and Schalke, it’s chalk and cheese, the club is simply operating in a different financial universe.

One of the smartest things a new manager, coming in to replace another who had been at the club for seven seasons can do is… nothing. Tactically, Wagner clearly subscribes to the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ school of thinking.

Elversberg stuck with the 4-2-3-1 formation that has brought them so much success up until this point. They still like to dominate possession, press at a decent level but not excessively, and using their wide players to create chances.

The 2. Bundesliga is incredibly tight this season, just three points separate first place Schalke and fifth place Paderborn, with Elversberg right in the middle like Malcolm. Sitting in the play-off spot once again, Wagner’s side continue to defy expectations.

Their start to the campaign was fantastic, dropping points just twice in their opening nine league games, a 2-0 defeat to Bochum and a 2-2 draw with Dynamo Dresden. A slip was inevitable, however, and results since October haven’t been quite as productive.

A 2-0 win over Hertha Berlin should be regarded as their best up until this point. Hertha were Bundesliga regulars up until their relegation in 2022/23 and despite some really disappointing finishes, they remain a decent side.

Younes Ebnoutalib was the man to get both goals. The striker was prolific over the first-half of the season, scoring 12 goals in his 17 2. Bundesliga games. As is so often the case, that means bigger clubs come calling, and Ebnoutalib moved to Eintracht Frankfurt for a reported €8 million in January.

No longer in any cup competitions, Elversberg now have 12 games to determine whether they’ll end up in the Bundesliga next season or not. They may well be one of the best run clubs in Germany, a country in which the bar is pretty damn high.

It turns out pubs aren’t just important in the bid to cure the male loneliness epidemic; they’re also space in which fairytales can be written. Elversberg are just the latest.

(Images from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the 2. Bundesliga on FotMob – with in-depth stat coverage, xG, and player ratings, where available. Download the free app here.

LaLiga has changed a lot since the early 2000s. The money flows upwards, and so, as a consequence, there can be a lack of quality strikers outside of the top three clubs. Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé leads the scoring charts with 23 in his 22 league games.

By Alex Roberts

On the reverse, it allows relatively unknown players to really make a name for themselves. This season, that man has been Mallorca striker Vedat Muriqi, who, ironically enough, looks like he would THRIVE in 2003.

Standing at a healthy 6’4”, the 31-year-old Kosovan should be introduced like a boxer before every game. He’s already well on course to beat his best ever season in front of goal with 16 in 23 games, just one behind his 2016-17 tally while with Turkish side Rizespor.

He is a bit of a battering ram, an old school number nine, a lot like Mario Mandžukić, for those of us who remember. Muriqi’s creative numbers aren’t good, but that’s not his job, he’s in the side make a nuisance of himself and bag goals.

Each of his goals so far this season have come from inside the six-yard box, but he’s evolved far beyond being a simple target man, he’s Mallorca’s focal point, the key to everything they want to do going forward.

Strong in duels, aggressive in aerials, with deceptively intelligent positioning, Mallorca’s 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2, and 5-3-2 systems are uniquely reliant on Muriqi being their outlet, with a more mobile forward playing off him, usually one of Mateo Joseph or Abdón Prats.

Muriqi often drops deep to help in build-up, using his combative style and great first touch to help bring other forwards into play. As we mentioned, he’s not a Harry Kane style creator with just 76 successful passes in the final third, but he is intentional.

Strong, with a good first touch for a big lad, and most importantly, reliable, Muriqi’s profile allows his side to play in a less traditionally Spanish manner. Simply put, he’s the perfect striker for a side that look to play on the counter.

Mallorca aren’t too bothered about keeping the ball, Jagoba Arrasate’s side have the 17^th lowest average possession on LaLiga (43.7%), the fourth most accurate long balls per match with 26.2, and the third most accurate crosses per match at 4.9.

Looking at his numbers, it’s easy to tell where he excels. Muriqi has so far won 154 duels at a success rate of 53.3%, 101 aerials at a success rate of 56.1%, had 106 touches in the opposition box, won 39 fouls, and been dispossessed just 25 times.

Just to really double down on how important Muriqi is, the rest of his Mallorca teammates have had a combined 301 touches in the opposition box. It’s just a shame all of the striker’s hard work may be for absolutely nothing.

Mallorca are down in 18^th, one point off Rayo Vallecano and safety. Muriqi keeps scoring, but for every two steps he takes forward, the rest of the team take three backwards. It’s turns out there is such a thing as over reliance in football.

Their second highest goal scorer is defensive midfielder Samu with four, the closest forward is Leeds United loanee Joseph with two. If Muriqi hadn’t been so clinical so far this season, Mallorca would have already been relegated… essentially.

Muriqi is overperforming his xG of 11.77 by 4.23, which is quite remarkable considering five of his LaLiga goals have been penalties. That makes him the league’s second highest performer, just behind Villarreal winger Alberto Moleiro, who has been playing out of his skin this season.

Much of that can be explained by the fact Muriqi LOVES to get his head on the end of crosses. Headers, naturally, are harder to control, so the xG is lower, meaning six of his goals have come from an xG of 3.01.

His best was in their 3-1 win over Elche last December. Midfielder Omar Mascarell carried the ball from the halfway line to the left wing, beating a couple of defenders along the way before sending in the perfect ball for Muriqi to get his big noggin on.

Remember Robin van Persie’s flying header in the Netherlands’ 5-1 win over Spain in the 2014 World Cup? Well, it was a diluted, much less dramatic version of that, looping over the goalkeeper from roughly the same distance.

His goal in the 2-1 defeat to Real Betis on Sunday (February 15), makes Muriqi just the second player in the club’s history to hit 50 in La Liga. The striker now has the incredible Samuel Eto’o (54) in his sights as he aims to become their greatest ever front man. 

With 14 games left to play, and LaLiga survival on the line, we wouldn’t bet against him equalling that record as a minimum. In all honestly, he’ll probably do it with all headers too, just to make it extra special.

If you want us to tell you he’ll end up beating Mbappé to the Pichichi Trophy (LaLiga’s golden boot), we apologise, we can’t do it. The Frenchman may well be the best forward on the planet at the moment; there is a very select few players that can compete in any meaningful way.

Keeping his side in LaLiga will undoubtedly be Muriqi’s ultimate goal. If he doesn’t, it’s incredibly unlikely he sticks around to lead them back up, although living and seeing out a career on the beautiful island of Mallorca doesn’t sound too bad.

(Images from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from LaLiga on FotMob – with in-depth stat coverage, xG, and player ratings, where available. Download the free app here.