Arminia Bielefeld host newly-promoted Energie Cottbus on Sunday as Oliver Kirch makes his home debut. The former Borussia Dortmund midfielder lost to Karlsruhe in his managerial debut last week.
Meanwhile, Cottbus pulled off the surprising result of the opening matchday with a 3-1 win over promotion candidates Hannover. Die Lausitzer will now hope to maintain their perfect record with their first away 2. Bundesliga game in over a decade.
Bielefeld: Kersken; Koudossou, Bauer ©, Großer, Handwerker; Russo; Mehlem, Wörl; Momuluh, Grodowski, Rochelt
Cottbus: Lotka; Rorig, Manu, Erlein, Zaydan; Bittencourt, Michelbrink; Ciğerci ©, Boziaris, Butler; Copado

#bielefeld #debut #arminia

Arminia Bielefeld will hope to repeat last season's sensational start to their 2. Bundesliga campaign as they face Karlsruhe away from home. Both teams picked up three points to start last season with wins over the now 3. Liga clubs Fortuna Düsseldorf and Preußen Münster, respectively.
Karlsruhe won last season's home game against Bielefeld 4-1 despite conceding first inside the first 15 minutes. The two teams will now start their new eras under their respective new coaches Maximilian Senft and Oliver Kirch.
Karlsruhe: Bernat; Jung, Kobald, Franke, Ofli; Pinto Pedrosa, Egloff, Zor, Wanitzek ©; Eichinger, Broschinski
Bielefeld: Kersken; Koudossou, Bauer ©, Großer, Handwerker; Russo, Schreck, Wörl; Momuluh, Grodowski, Rochelt

#bielefeld #last #liga

New Hamburg attacking addition Patson Daka bid the Bundesliga a spirited ****** o on Friday. Following his arrival at HSV's Austrian training camp, new striker Patson Daka has spoken about his decision to join the Bundesliga club and his determination to escape the difficult period that stalled his career at Leicester City.
The 27-year-old joined HSV on a free transfer after Leicester's relegation to the English third tier. Daka, for whom the former Premier League club paid approximately €30m five years ago, initially signed a one-year contract containing an extension option. The Zambian international is expected to make his unofficial debut in Saturday's friendly against 1. FC Heidenheim.
Daka's fellow new Hamburg signing – Moroccan U23 international Bilal Nadir – also saw his arrival on a free transfer confirmed Friday. Like Daka, Nadir is also hoping to put a recent rough patch behind him. Last October, whilst playing for Olympique Marseille, Nadir made unpleasant headlines when he collapsed on the field during a Ligue 1 match against Angers.
In their second season back in the Bundesliga, Hamburg are rapidly becoming the club of "second chances"; an apt categorization in the year that Mario Vuskovic is once again eligible to play following his long suspension. Daka optimistically led the group of new arrivals at his introductory press event.
The striker began researching HSV shortly after the club established contact. Daka also consulted former Salzburg teammates Hee-Chan Hwang (whom many will recall from his RB Leipzig days) and Masaya Okugawa (who mostly featured for Arminia Bielefeld), both of whom previously played in Hamburg.

#daka #year #patson

It's strange knowing what we know now, but on this day in 1999, German international Thomas Helmer completed his move to Sunderland. The 34-year-old central defender had only weeks prior been in the Bayern Munich squad that were beaten by Manchester United in the Champions League final.
He'd also played in two World Cups for his country, and Peter Reid stated he'd bring "invaluable experience" to his squad.
Helmer moved from Bayern Munich on a Bosman free transfer and immediately joined his new teammates for the tour in Denmark. Before Bayern, Helmer had spells with Arminia Bielefeld and Borussia Dortmund, so the move to Wearside was his first outside of Germany as he talked about his move:
I am looking forward to joining my team-mates in Denmark and helping Sunderland do well in the Premiership next season. I could have joined Liverpool six months ago but felt that the time was not right for me or my family.
As soon as I heard of Sunderland's interest I came straight over and was very impressed with the Stadium of Light and what the manager had to say

After it was clear FC St. Pauli and Alexander Blessin would part ways, the Hanseatic club are looking for an instant successor as coach.
Now, according to Sky Germany's sources, the recently relegated Bundesliga side are said to be interested in Marcel Rapp.
The 47-year-old led Holstein Kiel to the Bundesliga in 2024 and was initially allowed to stay even after their immediate relegation.
However, when demotion back to the 3. Liga loomed in the 2025-26 campaign, Kiel wasted no time in giving Rapp the chop.
According to Sky, an agreement between Rapp – who was recently linked with Arminia Bielefeld – and FC St. Pauli is still pending.