Opposition Check: 1. FC Magdeburg

In the home table, 1. FC Magdeburg occupies the penultimate place. Because the team from Saxony-Anhalt confidently leads the away table, things are looking really good in the overall standings: with 38 points, the FCM is only one point behind the relegation playoff place. And suddenly Magdeburgers, who are weak in terms of results at home, can also win at home. The only home win so far came in the last home game against the top team in the league, 1. FC Köln, who were sent back to the Rhineland with a 3-0 win.

Now next Sunday (02.03/1.30pm) the Lilies will be playing in the Avnet Arena. We’ll take a closer look at SV 98’s next opponent. 1. FC Magdeburg in the opponent check.

„There is no perfect game. If the perfect game existed, we would all have nothing left to correct.“

With these words, Magdeburg head coach Christian Titz responded in a kicker interview to the question of whether he was still looking for the perfect game. In his rather “imperfect” game, the trainer regularly relies on a high-quality goalkeeper who not only saves the ball, but also integrates himself strongly into the build-up of the game. Titz already trusted this type of goalkeeping at Hamburger SV – back then it was Julian Pollersbeck. Today, this role at FCM is fulfilled by captain and goalkeeper Dominik Reimann, whose positioning and playful qualities are intended to give Magdeburg’s game structure additional variability.

At the same time, the 53-year-old likes to let his team press high in order to put the opponent under pressure early on. Titz got inspiration for his bold game idea, among other things, during an internship with Johan Cruyff. The Mannheim native says of him: “Johan Cruyff was not only exceptional as a player, he changed football as coach of FC Barcelona.” A good stick word.

Because Titz also changed 1. FC Magdeburg. After his stints at HSV and Rot-Weiss Essen, the trained administrative assistant took over the East Club in 2021 – with immediate success. In his first season he celebrated promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga with the FCM and also secured the Saxony-Anhalt Cup. Since then, Magdeburg has been in Bundesliga 2 – and stands for attractive, courageous football. Fittingly, Titz happily agrees with his teacher Cruyff: “Football is a simple game. But just playing it is difficult.” The football book author, family man and business economist has many talents. But there’s one thing he still doesn’t like to this day: „Losing isn’t something I really enjoy doing.“

Score goals. Magdeburg can do that particularly well this season. With 48 goals, Christian Titz’s team is the second best team in the statistics. Only the league leaders Hamburger SV (51) scored more goals than FCM. This is also due to the good utilisation of chances, which is 11.3 percent and is therefore the third best league value. Only Nürnberg (11.6) and again HSV (11.9) are above this. In the last four games alone, the blue-whites scored an impressive twelve goals. However, they only won two games.

All-rounder. A term that has long been an integral part of the vocabulary of modern football. It applies to players who can be used flexibly in multiple positions. And hardly any other player embodies this versatility as much as Mohammed El Hankouri from 1. FC Magdeburg. Since his move in the summer of 2022, the 27-year-old has developed into a real all-purpose weapon for the blue and whites. Whether on the defensive or offensive wing, in the attacking midfield or even as a hanging point: El Hankouri has played almost everywhere. He was only not on the pitch for Magdeburg as a goalkeeper, central defender or classic six.

A look at the numbers shows how important he is for his team: 20 appearances, plus six goals and four assists in the current second division season speak for themselves. Recently, however, the winger has found himself more and more often in central midfield. Head coach Christian Titz explained this move after the 1-0 away win at Jahn Regensburg: “Mo is a player who is very interesting in the gaps.”

Review. Starting in the youth ranks at Feyenoord Rotterdam, where he worked his way up to the professionals and won the Dutch championship in 2016/17 and the Super Cup in 2019, he ended up on loan at Willem II. He only returned to Feyenoord for a short chapter, as he initially joined FC Groningen on loan and later permanently. In 2022 he finally moved to Germany to 1. FC Magdeburg. El Hankouri has also already gained experience on the international stage: The Moroccan, who was born in the Netherlands, played one game each for the Netherlands U20 team and the Morocco U20 team, most recently being called up for the Morocco U23 team in 2018.