2. Bundesliga
Table toppers Hannover quell talk of promotion
Whisper it, but things are looking up for Hannover 96. In this, their fifth consecutive season in the second tier, Stefan Leitl's side are top of the standings, but any talk of promotion at this early stage is being sharply played down by the coach and his band of experienced players.
Last weekend's come-from-behind, 2-1 win against Karlsruhe was sealed with an 89th minute penalty from former Germany international and ex-RB Leipzig mainstay Marcel Halstenberg. As the calmest man inside the Heinz-von-Heiden-Arena, the 33-year-old netted from the spot with a Panenka to extend Hannover's home run to an incredible six consecutive wins this term.
Afterwards, Halstenberg scoffed at talk of Die Roten's status as leaders, insisting, "It's just a snapshot" of the current state of affairs in a division that is proving wildly unpredictable and utterly compelling. Yet, led by one-time Bayern Munich youth and ex-Greuther Fürth coach Leitl, the case for Hannover this season is compelling, with the team's mix of experience and youth producing the goods thus far.
Watch: Hannover make it six home wins in a row in dramatic style
The Lower Saxony-based side boast Bundesliga 2's best defence right now, led by one-time VfB Stuttgart and Germany shot stopper Ron-Robert Zieler, who put in another commendable display between the posts against Karlsruhe. "We're managing to win our home games: six times in a row now, that's great," the Hannover captain said. "The team is working well. It's a great feeling that we're successful right now, but we're only a third of the way through the season. There's still a lot of football to be played," the 35-year-old warned.
A former Germany Olympic Games competitor, Leitl was also unwilling to get carried away, adding: "We’re happy about this, for the moment." That moment has seen Hannover win four of their last five games, home and away, and there will be confidence among their ranks ahead of this weekend's trip to face an Elversberg team that went down to basement boys Jahn Regensburg last time out.
Along with Zieler and Halstenberg guiding from the back in a side that have conceded just seven times in 11 games, experience also plays a part up top, with the one-time Norway international Håvard Nielsen and the well-travelled Andreas Voglsammer providing five goal involvements between them. Elsewhere, on-loan Eintracht Frankfurt schemer Jessic Ngankam and midfielder Enzo Leopold have been playing their part in Hannover's early success.
Coach Leitl once took Fürth up to the Bundesliga for only the second time in the Bavarians' history and - in his second season at the Hannover helm - has a team aiming for the top-flight once more. Yet as captain Zieler warned: “Anyone can beat anyone in this league. We have to repeat [what we're doing] again and again in the next few weeks and months."
Should they manage that, a first promotion since 2016/17 could become a realistic prospect for Hannover.