Opponent Check: SC Preußen Münster

After a decent year in the second division, they were relegated to the third division in 1991. Since then, the traditional club from western Germany has developed into an elevator team that constantly shuttles between the third and fourth league. But after a long 33 years of waiting, SC Preußen Münster has made it back to the 2nd Bundesliga – in 2024 they were promoted to the German lower house of football as second in the table. Although Münster is currently in a direct relegation zone with eleven points, anything is still possible: only one point separates Münster from safety.

Sascha Hildmann and Preußen Münster – a great love story? At a time when coaches often only stay with a club for a short time, Hildmann will soon be celebrating his five-year anniversary on the Münster sidelines and has coached over 200 games during this time. For the 52-year-old, good cooperation depends on three important pillars: “Trust, appreciation and humanity.”

His supposedly greatest triumph as a coach came in the 2022/23 season, when Preußen Münster was promoted to the 3rd league as champions of the Regionalliga West. Really the greatest triumph? No. Hildmann and his team went one better, the success story didn’t end: In the following third division season, his team played an incredible second half of the season, remained unbeaten from the end of January to mid-March and fought their way back to the 2nd Bundesliga after 33 years as second in the table.

“We didn’t even think about promotion,” Hildmann recalled in an interview with Sport1. “Then we have an incredible second half of the season, win seven games in a row and pull it off. The team got along great. For me, this climb is the greatest thing ever. “I have never seen so many happy people,” enthused the Prussia coach, looking back on a magical season.

Approach the matter with your head and that doesn’t mean thinking. Preußen Münster have scored five goals with headers so far this season. A strong value compared to the league. Only two teams in the entire 2nd Bundesliga – 1. FC Köln (6) and Hamburger SV (9) – have managed to score more goals to date. The Eagles become particularly dangerous between the 16th and 30th minutes of the game. Your favourite minutes? Together with Karlsruher SC, they scored the most goals in the league during this phase (6).

Luke Frenkert. A real Münster native and an important pillar in the current Preußen Münster team. The 1.90 meter tall central defender was born in the city, comes from the Adler’s own youth team and made his breakthrough this season. But the path there was anything but easy: a number of injuries kept throwing the defender back and slowing him down.

So: take one step back and then two steps forward again? Last season, Frenkert was loaned out to regional league club 1. FC Bocholt. It turned out that this step was completely correct. “The time at FC was good for me,” emphasised the 24-year-old in an interview with SportBild. In Bocholt he was able to prove himself again, quickly became a top performer and was even voted player of the season by the fans at the end of the season. Despite other offers, his love for Münster remained, which he always expressed publicly: “I am a Münster resident with body and soul. It was always clear to me that I would make a second attempt at the Prussians.”

Back in Münster, he is one of coach Sascha Hildmann’s regular staff in the 2nd Bundesliga and justifies the trust placed in him with consistently strong performances. His record is impressive: the 24-year-old was on the pitch for the full distance in all 13 league games and didn’t miss a single minute of play. He also entered his team’s top scorer list with two goals and assisted two more goals.