Hansa sweep aside CL team, big embarrassments in friendlies | OneFootball

The height of summer is, in professional football, the time for relevant tournaments (Volkswagen Cup, surprise winners VfL Wolfsburg) and irrelevant ones (Club World Cup). Those who aren’t “lucky” enough to take part in such competitions play friendlies against teams who happen to have ended up in the same region while looking for a training camp. This not only leads to absurd matchups, but also to some delightful results.

FC St. Pauli - SV Drochtersen/Assel 0:1

Bundesliga versus Regionalliga Nord. Surely a clear-cut affair, even at the start of preseason? Think again. The underdog scored the only goal of the day in classic fashion from a set piece. By the way, the Kiezkicker not only had no luck, but then bad luck was added on top. New signing Ricky-Jade Jones suffered a serious shoulder injury during this unpleasant defeat and will be out for several weeks.

SSC Napoli - SS Arezzo 0:2

It was supposed to be a day of celebration for the Italian champions. In the debut of new top stars Kevin de Bruyne and Noa Lang, third-division Arezzo was expected to be brushed aside with ease. But, true to the saying “If you don’t score at the front, you’ll concede at the back,” the underdog struck at the end of both halves (38’, 90’) and embarrassed the favorites. Grande Kack.

Werder Bremen II - Borussia Mönchengladbach II 5-1

The result itself isn’t a surprise. Both are Regionalliga teams, it’s a friendly, these things happen. The awkward part comes when you look at the scorers. The Gladbach goal was scored by none other than Florian Neuhaus. His loose tongue during a Ballermann trip had earned the former national player a four-week demotion to the reserves. Whether Foals manager Roland “Don Rollo” Virkus had a secret chuckle or two at this twist of fate is not recorded.

CR Flamengo U20 - Bayer Leverkusen 5:1

During their training camp in Brazil, Bayer Leverkusen’s pros got a taste of the world-famous “Jogo bonito.” Against Flamengo’s youth team, the 2024 German champions were already 0:4 down by halftime. For the second half, the big guns like Xhaka, Andrich, and co. were quickly brought on. But it made absolutely zero difference to the scoreline. Bayer’s goal was scored by U19 striker Montrell Culbreath, who later called it “outstanding, yeah.” Well then.

Hansa Rostock - Aston Villa 3:1

The Villains only fell to eventual winners PSG in the quarterfinals of the last Champions League. Against Rostock, the Birmingham side were still leading 1-0 at halftime, but then the “Kogge” set sail and secured a surprising home win. Villa had won the second leg against PSG 3-2. So does that mean Hansa are theoretically stronger than the CL winners? Let’s not go there.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

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