Elversberg stun Leverkusen 3-2 in Bundesliga debut at Ursapharm Arena
SV Elversberg beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 at the Ursapharm Arena on Saturday, securing a first-day Bundesliga victory in the club’s top-flight debut during the league’s opening weekend.
German football’s claim that the Bundesliga can still produce surprise stories found proof in Spiesen-Elversberg, a town of just over 13,000 located 15km north-east of Saarbrücken and about 30 minutes’ drive from the French border, whose club recorded its first top-flight win. The Ursapharm Arena is undergoing renovation to bring it to a modest 15,000 capacity, with journalists covering the game from a temporary steel gantry on scaffolding after receiving a safety briefing. The town, described in the coverage as a “miracle village”, has no train station and no town hall, and the result constituted the first top-flight win for a Saarland side since 1993 when FC Saarbrücken beat Leverkusen. Even arriving in the same division was akin to a "moon landing", Wagner had said before the game, continuing to say staying up would be their "mission to Mars".
Elversberg raced into a commanding lead inside the opening exchanges, scoring two goals in the space of 60 seconds within the first 10 minutes and adding a third 25 seconds after the interval. Lukas Petkov opened the scoring before Cole Campbell swept in the second; Petkov then supplied the cross that allowed David Mokwa to make it 3-0 at the start of the second half. Leverkusen responded with goals from Patrick Schick and Christian Kofané as coach Carles Martínez introduced multiple forwards, but the comeback fell short.
Petkov’s influence reflected his role in the promotion campaign, when he scored 13 and created another six, and his contribution here included creating Mokwa’s second-half strike. Campbell, bought from Borussia Dortmund for €6m, started for Elversberg and delivered the decisive physical presence after failing to make a sustained impact in the top tier either at BVB or while on loan at Hoffenheim; Elversberg’s acquisition represented a record fee and a significant investment for the club.
Leverkusen arrived at the opening fixture after a turbulent previous season, described in the report as having been "blown off course by almost €300m of player sales and the ill-fated appointment of Erik ten Hag." Their summer recruitment continued, with Strasbourg full-back Guéla Doué due to complete a move to the BayArena on Monday, the fourth time this summer Die Werkself have spent in excess of €20m on a player. Mark Flekken, Leverkusen’s goalkeeper, was quoted: "I can’t even offer an explanation right now." On the Elversberg side, goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof produced a late stop from Jonas Hofmann and was one of two starters who had been at the club since it was in the regional fourth tier, having won promotion to the 3.Liga in 2022 at the end of his debut season.
Other results across the opening weekend included Bayern Munich 5-1 Stuttgart, Union Berlin 3-3 Eintracht, Leipzig 3-0 Mönchengladbach, Mainz 0-0 Paderborn, Cologne 3-2 Hoffenheim, Dortmund 2-0 Hamburg, Freiburg 4-1 Werder Bremen and Augsburg 3-0 Schalke. Bayern’s 5-1 win came with Michael Olise on the scoresheet, Harry Kane not needing to score, and Ismaël Saibari providing two assists from the bench; the report added that Vincent Kompany’s team are frightening. Borussia Dortmund’s 2-0 victory over Hamburg was overshadowed by Giannis Konstantelias rupturing his ACL on his full debut minutes after scoring, leaving BVB to consider free-agent replacements with Jadon Sancho and Reiss Nelson among the names circulating. FC Köln’s comeback saw Saïd El Mala score an equaliser and new signing Thijs Dallinga add two further goals in a 3-2 win, while Younes Ebnoutalib, Elversberg’s former striker, scored a hat-trick for Eintracht Frankfurt at Union Berlin and said: "It’s good for my mind," after the game; Tim Skarke’s injury-time equaliser rescued a point for Union and debutant Eintracht goalkeeper Noah Atubolu had been required to perform excellently to keep them level until late. Schalke’s return to the top flight ended 3-0 at Augsburg after they finished with 10 men, and Werder Bremen were beaten 4-1 at Freiburg following confirmation that Jens Stage is out injured until the new year.
If Elversberg can build on their start as they build that main stand, it would be a story for the Bundesliga ages.