SVE hosts table leaders Hannover 96 at the URSAPHARM Arena

After losing to the then last-placed team from Regensburg, next up SVE are welcoming table leaders Hannover 96 to the URSAPHARM Arena – including two familiar faces.  

They have put the defeat in Regensburg behind them, and on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. SV Elversberg will have an opportunity to make up for this mishap in the URSAPHARM Arena: the table leaders from Hanover are heading to Saarland. Jannik Rochelt and Lars Gindorf will be making the trip. All eyes will particularly be on Rochelt: ‘I am of course looking forward to seeing everyone again’, Rochelt says. The 26 year old spent two years kitting up for SV Elversberg, having moved there from SSV Ulm in 2022. His first season in the third division with Saarland saw them win the championship at their first attempt and thus be promoted to the second division. It was the second third-division championship victory for this attacking player, having previously won with FC Bayern München’s second team in 2020. However, he is definitive about which win was the more emotional: ‘In Elversberg, we did it as a fantastic unit and a promoted team, and headed straight through, which no-one was really expecting’, he clarifies. 

In Elversberg, we did it as a fantastic unit and a promoted team, and headed straight through, which no-one was really expecting

Former Elversberg player Jannik Rochelt

‘At any rate, it made my time there particularly special.’ The team also ‘performed well’ in the second division the subsequent year. ‘It was a fantastic time in my career – and also a successful one’, Rochelt says. And another thing he enjoyed about this adventure: ‘It all has a family feel, so it was a fantastic feeling to be involved in the club’s development and help shape its success story’, he explains, remembering: ‘The club is developing a step at a time, as is currently evident from the stadium expansion, for example.’ However, last summer he took the next step in his career by moving to 96. Nevertheless, he has not completely broken ties with Elversberg. ‘I am still in regular contact’, he confirms. His first few months in Hanover have been similarly positive. ‘I had a very good start here, we felt right at home’, he says. By ‘we’, Jannik also means his wife Sarah and miniature poodle Leo. ‘The team has also welcomed me really well, it is really great and the conditions here are fantastic’, he continues. He and his team colleagues are top of the table with 22 points after 11 days of play, and Rochelt has appeared in every match this season – although with no goals or assists so far. ‘Things are currently fun, and if everything went slightly better for me in sporting terms, they would be ideal’, he confidently says, as Hannover 96 have written on their website. SVE sports director Ole Book was able to bring Rochelt to Elversberg for free and then sell him on for 1.5 million euros. The winger’s current issues at his new employer are something that the sports director understands from his own career: ‘When I was actively playing and moved to MSV Duisburg, I had the same issues. A new club is always something different – different teammates, different coaches and different playing systems. Nevertheless, I hope that Jannik gets off to a good start in Hanover next week’, Book says – ideally, not until after the match against SVE. Lars Gindorf, another returning player, kitted up for SVE in his youth and is now joining the trip to Saarland. 

SVE are also hoping to hit the ground running on Sunday, but this difficult task will be made harder without vice-captain Luca Schnellbacher. The player had the misfortune to be knocked over by falling Regensburg captain Andreas Geipl shortly before the break, twisting his left knee, and had to leave the pitch before the end of the first half. An MRI examination will be needed to confirm the severity of the injury. Although the suspected ruptured cruciate ligament has not been confirmed, the vice-captain will be out for the next few weeks with an intra-articular ligament injury to his knee and ankle. With defensive midfielders Robin Fellhauer and Semih Sahin also out of action (due to an ankle and calf injury respectively), the Saarland team are missing key players and thus an entire cornerstone of their team structure. The final quarter of an hour in Regensburg, when his teammates threw away some fantastic opportunities, showed that the 30 year old is difficult to replace. 

This lack of efficiency is likely to be an issue again for Horst Steffen’s team on Sunday. SVE have already managed to trip up a few big names at home, but will need a cohesive team performance and a cool head once again – at both ends of the pitch.