In an exceptional game in the club’s history, 1. FC Heidenheim narrowly missed the big surprise against Chelsea FC. After a courageous performance in the duel with the global and billion-dollar club, the outsider had to admit defeat 0-2 (0-0) in the Conference League. Former Leipzig player Christopher Nkunku (51st minute) and Mychajlo Mudryk (85th) sweetened the trip to the Ostalb for the star ensemble from London, which did not have the best line-up. Given some of their own chances, Bundesliga club Heidenheim could have rewarded themselves with a point. Two supposed Heidenheim goals by substitute Maximilian Breunig were disallowed due to offside (79th/88th). In stoppage time, Chelsea’s Cesare Casadei saw yellow-red (90th+6).
Despite their first European Cup defeat, 1. FC Heidenheim can still hope for direct qualification for the round of 16 after three wins in three games. In the midst of their difficult phase in the Bundesliga, the Heidenheim team played an entertaining game in front of 15,000 spectators. Schmidt’s team kept the duel of extreme contrasts with the 2012 and 2021 Champions League winners open until the final phase and fought back impressively even after going behind. Heidenheim’s goalkeeper Kevin Müller stood out several times, but his counterpart Filip Jörgensen also had a lot to do.
The proud Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt saw a “crazy house” and an “open exchange of blows”: “We played a really good game,” he praised the home performance on RTL, “it is significant when Chelsea have to play for time against us. We left our hearts on the pitch.”
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