Opposition Check: SC Paderborn

With Schalke’s early championship win, one promotion spot has already been decided, making the situation on matchday 34 all the more crucial. Right in the thick of the promotion race: SC Paderborn. As things stand, goal difference will decide the outcome, but things aren’t looking as rosy for Ralf Kettemann’s team as they are for their rivals. The East Westphalians have a goal difference of +12, Hannover 96 +16, and SV Elversberg +22.

At the same time as Paderborn’s match at the Bölle stadium, Elversberg hosts the relegated team from Münster, and Hannover welcomes Nürnberg. In terms of the league table, SCP faces the toughest challenge. We’ve taken a closer look at Darmstadt’s opponent on Sunday.

Of all times, now. At the most crucial stage of the season, SC Paderborn is experiencing its longest winless streak of the campaign so far. Their position in the table is clear, but the circumstances from which they arose are frustrating for the fourth-placed team. Their last victory was five weeks ago against Magdeburg, after which they held a four-point lead in second place. Since then, they have recorded two draws and two defeats, all against the current top three teams in the league. In total, SCP has only managed five points out of a possible 15 from their last five matches. Whether that will be enough in the end will be revealed on the final matchday.

Ralf Kettemann, the man with the golden touch. If Paderborn’s attack falters and the starting eleven simply can’t find the back of the net, then their weapons are on the bench. The substitutes have already made an impact 13 times for SCP, more than almost any other team in the league; only Hannover has managed it once more (14). So, you can never feel safe against Paderborn as long as the transfer windows aren’t exhausted.

In the company of Nils Petersen, Niclas Füllkrug, and Lukas Podolski, a Paderborn player has joined the ranks of those who have scored four goals in a single match, a feat he accomplished in the game against Magdeburg. Filip „Fico“ Bilbija scored all four of Paderborn’s goals in the 4-3 victory, thus joining the elite circle of players who have scored four goals in a single game in the second division! But this four-goal performance isn’t Bilbija’s only distinguishing characteristic this season. Whenever Paderborn’s top scorer finds the net, Ralf Kettemann’s team has yet to lose this campaign. In fact, „Fico,“ as he prefers to be called, has only suffered one defeat in a Paderborn jersey since finding the back of the net. He has already netted 15 times this season.

On the pitch, however, the Berlin native sees himself more as a central midfielder than a striker, as he revealed in the „Schanzer Podcast“ during his time at Ingolstadt. Ingolstadt was his first professional club and also the first time he left his hometown of Berlin. He explained that this was an important step for him because in the capital, thanks to friends and parties, his focus wasn’t solely on football, whereas in Ingolstadt it was. Setting priorities in his life is very important to him, and the 26-year-old completely avoids social media. He uses his time for activities such as meditation and reading spiritual books, as he revealed in a club interview with SC Paderborn.

So far, this approach has paid off: Bilbija currently sits fourth in the top scorers list with 15 goals, but the title is still up for grabs. He’s three goals behind Noel Futkeu (18 goals), and Isac Lidberg (17 goals) is also in contention. However, Bilbija has already demonstrated that scoring four goals in a single match is not out of the question for him.