2. Bundesliga
How youth is powering Paderborn's promotion push
New USA under-21 call-up Santiago Castañeda is just one of a bunch of promising young players giving Paderborn a platform to reach the top flight. A sensational run of eight successive wins this autumn leads them in pole position in the emerging race for promotion, although they are determined to take things one step at a time.
The debate between the value of fearless youth versus the wisdom of experience has been rumbling for perhaps as long as football has existed. Still, Paderborn are making a good argument for the benefits of the former so far in 2025/26 by racing to the top of the Bundesliga 2 table after 12 matchdays.
At an average age of 23.8 among the 22 players they have used so far in the campaign, they are the German second-flight's most youthful side - and currently the most successful. Their 1-0 win in Mageburg before the international break was, incredibly, their eighth successive league win.
Watch: Paderborn win again in Magdeburg
The club took six of those eight successive wins by just a single goal - a sign of a real winning machine, and one with youth at its core.
That form resulted in 20-year-old Floridian Santiago Castañeda receiving his first call-up to the USA under-21 squad going into the same November internationals, with his alert style in defensive midfield helping propel Paderborn's flying start.
They have an even younger talent to thank for only one side in Bundesliga 2 conceding fewer than their 10 goals (Schalke) and that's 19-year-old rising goalkeeping star Dennis Seimen, who is on loan from VfB Stuttgart.
Watch: Siemen and Baur among Bundesliga 2's shooting stars
Their 21-year-old defender Mattes Hansen has provided further defensive steel. With two more youthful midfielders in the guise of Luis Engelns (18) and the moustachioed Mika Baur (21), 25-year-old club top scorer Filip Bilbija (with eight strikes) looks an elder statesman by comparison.
While youth was the focus last season too under current Cologne coach Lukas Kwasniok, Paderborn redoubled their strategy this summer despite talents like Ilyas Ansah and Aaron Zehnter leaving for Union Berlin and Wolfsburg, respectively.
Of their 10 incoming summer transfers, remarkably only two - Steffen Tigges (27) and Nick Bätzner (25) - were over the age of 21.
The bold approach was underpinned by the appointment of Ralf Kettemann as coach in May - with the then 38-year-old having taken Karlsruhe U19 to the DFB Junior Cup final. His ability to "work with and develop young players" was cited by the club as a key reason for hiring him, and it's looking a masterstroke now.
After just one win in their first four this season, Paerborn have marched to the top of the Bundesliga 2 standings without dropping a single point since August. With 29 points after 12 matches, they are on course to break the mark for the club's best-ever first half to a second-flight season set by Roger Schmidt in 2011/12 (33 points after 17 matches).
Twists and turns aplenty are guaranteed over the course of a Bundesliga 2 season, but Paderborn have the momentum behind them to start wondering if they can go one better than last season. Then, they narrowly missed out on the promotion picture by finishing fourth, three points behind Elversberg and four behind promoted Hamburg.
A recent DFB Cup tie in which they pushed Bayer Leverkusen all the way in an extra-time defeat, despite being reduced to 10 men early in the second half, has to add further to the quiet confidence.
Castañeda has hinted that the secrets to Paderborn's success might lie in the sense of togetherness they have developed as a tight-knit unit, saying: "Everyone is close. Every time we go out to play, we realise we're playing for a family. We've grown to see each other as family and brothers."
Meanwhile, Kettemann unsurprisingly looking to stay ground despite his side's superb run of form, adding: "It's nice the flow is there, and things are going well. This momentum doesn't come for free though, it's not like you wake up in the morning and it's handed to you. You have to work for it."
Hard work will certainly be required in the coming weeks. Remarkably, the league leaders are to face each of the sides that went into the November international break placed between second and sixth in their five fixtures before the winter break, starting with Hannover at home on Saturday 22 November (1pm CET).
It would be remarkable if Paderborn continue their winning run through that tough period and any way they can come out of it relatively unscathed and still top will intensify the talk about their chances of going up.