Our next opponents: Dream start with a new striker

Position

Five wins, 15 points, 17 goals for and six against – FC Carl Zeiss Jena have made a dream start in the Regional League North East and they are clearly leading the table after the first five matches. Last Saturday, the Thüringians gave newly promoted VFC Plauen no chance as they clocked up a 4-1 away win. Erik Weinhauer was man of the match again. The 23-year-old striker scored twice for the visitors superior in every respect. Those were goals number nine and ten for Weinhauer this season as he twice put his team ahead. Cemal Sezer and Benjamin Zank netted the other goals to make it 4-1. "We know how to rank everything but I'm completely proud of the lads," said Jena coach Henning Bürger after the fifth win in the fifth league outing.

His team secured victories over BFC Dynamo (3-2), Hertha Zehlendorf (6-2), Greifswalder FC (3-1) and Chemnitzer FC (1-0). Jena were not necessarily one of the favourites to win the title in the Regional League North East. After finishing twice in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, last term produced a seventh-place finish. The club's successful start to the current campaign should give them confidence for the season ahead as well as the forthcoming task against the champions of Germany, DFB Pokal and Supercup winners.

Jena and Bayer 04 have previously played each other twice in the domestic cup competition. Leverkusen won both games. The last meeting in 2012 ended with a 4-0 win for the Werkself in the first round. Simon Rolfes, now sporting managing director, gave Bayer 04 the lead in Jena after just three minutes back then. Karim Bellarabi, Stefan Kießling and Junior Fernandes scored the other goals. 20 years before that, the Black and Reds won 2-0 in the quarter-finals with a brace from Andreas Thom and they went on to win the DFB Pokal in that 1992/93 season. Bernd ‘Schnix’ Schneider played for Jena in that game and a few years later he went on to become a world-class player at Bayer 04.

The only previous win against the Werkself was in a friendly in 1991. The current Carl Zeiss coach Henning Bürger was in the starting line-up for the Thüringians in the 1-0 win back then. Only 1,000 spectators watched that game. Now, in the third cup tie between two clubs, there will be a sell-out with a 15,000 crowd at the Ernst Abbe Sportfeld.

Personnel

The loss of one player has particularly hit FC Carl Zeiss Jena: Elias Löder, who was top scorer in the Regional League North East with 25 goals last term and the most prolific fourth tier striker last season, broke his left ankle two weeks ago in the 3-1 win against Greifswalder FC. The 24-year-old has undergone an operation and will be sidelined for several months. "This serious injury has hit us really hard," said sporting director Stefan Böger. "Of course, we will miss Elias with his top performances in recent months. But we will miss him even more for his positive influence in the dressing room."

The personnel situation is tight at Jena with the absence of other key players in the shape of Justin Petermann and Justin Smyla (both with ligament injuries) as well as versatile defender Maurice Hehne (torn cruciate) and Marcel Hoppe (groin).

Not an easy situation for coach Henning Bürger who only took charge of the team in January of this year. The head coach does know the club like the back of his hand. Bürger played in the youth teams for many years and later for the senior team at FCC. The Thüringian-born coach played 99 Bundesliga games as a midfielder including for Schalke 04, FC Saarbrücken, FC St Pauli and Eintracht Frankfurt. The 54-year-old was previously head of the youth section at Jena.

So it is no wonder that the head coach also opts to play talented youngsters from the youth set-up. In addition to the stalwart and new signing Sören Reddemann (VfB Lübeck), 18-year-old Khalid Abu El Haija is also one of the regular starters. In the full-back positions are not only captain Nils Butzen but also Paul Krämer, a 19-year-old talent from the club's youth teams. Henning Bürger has an impressive record to date: Carl Zeiss Jena have only lost three times in 24 games under him (15 wins, six draws). The team are unbeaten over 14 matches in this and last season.

Problems

In addition to the absences through injury, the coach also has problems in defence. Last season Jena conceded 44 goals – twice as many as the previous season. Jena have only kept one clean sheet this term and have already conceded six goals, which have partly come from careless individual mistakes..

Performers

Up front, FC Carl Zeiss Jena have another top player in Erik Weinhauer on whom hopes rest after the injury to Elias Löder. Weinhauer was signed from league rivals Rot-Weiß Erfurt in the summer and he has found the back of the net ten times in the first five games. The Quedlinburg-born player set a record on matchday two. Weinhauer scored five goals in the first half in the 6-2 win against Hertha Zehlendorf. No other player in the Regional League North East has achieved that feat before. "It was really cool. Everything went right today. I could just let fly and the ball went in," said Weinhauer on his top performance.

Cemal Sezer, also signed in January, has strengthened the attack scoring twelve goals for Jena in 20 games. The wingers Joel Richter (two goals, two assists) and Kay Seidemann (one goal, one assist) have also started the season well.