2. Bundesliga 23/24 Season Preview: Eintracht Braunschweig
Eintracht Braunschweig returned to the 2. Bundesliga last season after a hiatus away from one of the toughest leagues in the world. Die Lowen knew it would be quite the challenge and their survival story went down to the wire. On the final weekend of the season, Braunschweig needed to match the score of Arminia Bielefeld to guarantee their place in the 2. Bundesliga for the 2023/24 season.
It looked perilous for a long period of time, but despite losing to Hansa Rostock 2:1, Braunschweig guaranteed their survival thanks to Bielefeld losing 4:0 to Magdeburg. However, this didn’t come without casualty. Michael Schiele who led Braunschweig’s revival back to the second tier was fired just weeks after the season concluded. More perplexing was the fact Schiele signed an extension until 2025 month early.
Jens Härtel comes with 2. Bundesliga experience with the aforementioned Hansa Rostock and Magdeburg, but hiring came with plenty of question marks.
Braunschweig hope to avoid being in the relegation scrap, but can they avoid this fate?
Team Details
Stadion (Capacity): Eintracht-Stadion (23,325)
Kit manufacturer: Puma
Nicknames: Die Löwen (The lions)
Coach: Jens Härtel
Captain: Jannis Nikolaou
Signings & Departures
Signings: Johan Gomez (FSV Zwickau), Sebastian Griesbeck (Greuther Fürth), Robert Ivanov (Warta Poznan), Marvin Rittmüller (1. FC Heidenheim), Rayan Philippe (FC Swift Hesperange), Tino Casali (SCR Altach), Keita Endo (Union Berlin, on loan), Rami Zouaoui (Eintracht Braunschweig U19), Yannik Bangsow (Alemannia Aachen, loan return)
Departures: Immanuel Pherai (Hamburger SV), Filip Benković (Udinese Calcio, end of loan), Tarsis Bonga (1860 München), Keita Endo (Union Berlin, end of loan), Linus Gechter (Hertha Berlin, end of loan), Bryan Henning (Viktoria Köln), Mehmet Ibrahimi (RB Leipzig, end of loan), Lion Lauberbach (KV Mechelen), Philipp Strompf (without club), Manuel Wintzheimer (1. FC Nürnberg, end of loan), Enrique Peña Zauner (without club), Jasmin Fejzić (retired), Lennart Schulze-Kökelsum (without club)
Player consolidation has been extremely difficult for Eintracht Braunschweig during this transfer window with important pieces to their survival leaving for pastures new. Immanuel Pherai produced a fantastic season in Braunschweig after joining from Borussia Dortmund II, his creativity and attacking brilliance are going to be extremely difficult to replace.
They are hoping new signing Rayan Philippe from Luxembourg side FC Swift Hesperange can cover his departure, as well as the return of Keita Endo who has a lot to prove after a subpar first season in Braunschweig.
Filip Benković was a surprising signing from Udinese last summer, but his importance was more noticeable in the games he didn’t play last season. Being unable to sign the former Croatian international on a full transfer was a big miss, but they will be hoping Sebastian Griesbeck joining from Greuther Fürth can recapture his best form of a few seasons ago.
Potential setup
With Jens Härtel leading the charge at Hamburger Straße for the new season, change is inevitable and this season's edition of Eintracht Braunschweig will look noticeably different to years past. When you think of Braunschweig, I think goalkeeper Jasmin Fejzić.
The former captain has been a staple of the club, but after an illustrious career the 37-year-old shot-stopper has called time on his career. Ron-Thorben Hoffmann was impressive last season after stints as a Bayern junior and Sunderland. Tino Casali joins to provide competition to Hoffmann.
The defence should look almost completely different from last season. Brian Behrendt has struggled to stay healthy and it’s hard to justify a place in the starting 11 against Holstein Kiel on matchday one. Griesbeck and Finish international Robert Ivanov are set to be the centre-back duo. Former Heidenheim right-back Marvin Rittmüller is expected to provide the width with the established Anton Donkor, who is one of the top left-backs in the league.
Forward of centre provides an interesting perspective. Braunschweig do have plenty of options but the aforementioned Philippe is some with plenty of intrigue. The 22-year-old French winger produced an outrageously good season in Luxembourg’s top division with FC Swift Hesperange, scoring an impressive 32 goals and 26 assists from 30 games.
The 2. Bundesliga is a significant step up, and if Philippe can provide a somewhat convincing contribution, this can go a long way into improving an attack that could benefit from additional quality thanks to the departure of Lion Lauberbach.
Fan Perspective
Eintracht Braunschweig are desperate to avoid the drop again, but how do the fans feel heading into the upcoming campaign? I asked passionate Braunschweig fan Kevin to give me the lowdown on what he’s expecting for his club this season.
MK: What are your hopes for the upcoming season?
KK: 14th. I just want to stay in the 2. Bundesliga and to play an away game on the first round of the DFB-Pokal. And of course, probably the most important hope: Winning the Niedersachsen-Derby.
MK: Which summer signing are you most looking forward to seeing play?
KK: No huge transfers so far. Rayan Philippe was involved in a lot of goals during his last season in Luxembourg. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to 2. Bundesliga. We still want to bring in at least 2-3 new signings to strengthen our attack.
MK: Who is one player from Eintracht Braunschweig fans of the league should keep an eye on?
KK: Honestly, right now, I don't really see any stand out players. Ron-Thorben Hoffmann is a great goalkeeper who will improve with even more game time this season.
MK: What are your impressions of new coach Jens Härtel?
KK: He seems to be quiet and reserved towards fans. It feels like he focuses a lot on discipline and fitness. During the last friendly, you could see for the first time, how we could play in the upcoming season. No pretty, but effective. "Ergebnis-Fußball" as I say in German.
MK: Fans should go to the Eintracht-Stadion this season because?
KK: It's our 100th anniversary this year! On the 17th of June 1923 our opening match took place against one of the best team at that time: 1. FC Nürnberg/Nuremberg. 100 years later, we still never had a "sponsor including" name. From 1980-2008 the stadium was called Städtisches Stadion an der Hamburger Straße after the city became the new owner. With a capacity of a little under 10k, the Südkurve is a pretty massive standing area, compared to the total capacity!
MK: Where do you think Eintracht Braunschweig will finish this season?
KK: It will be thrilling till the end, but hopefully we managed to finish on place 15!
Predictions
Avoiding relegation is the number one goal for Eintracht Braunschweig, and, with the 2. Bundesliga being so tight this is going to be quite the challenge. As mentioned before, the departures outweigh the arrivals and there are still doubts on whether Härtel can lift a side with limited resources.
That’s not to say we can’t be surprised, heading into last season Braunschweig were an odds on favourite to go down. But caused an upset by taking it down to the wire and profiting from sides performing well below their abilities.
So, Braunschweig they can do it, but will they?