1. FC Heidenheim 2026/27 preview: relegated, reset under Schmidt, transfers, pre-season, XI and outlook | OneFootball

According to BuLi News, Heidenheim return to the 2. Bundesliga after relegation, with Frank Schmidt overseeing a reset shaped by lower-league recruits and a useful pre-season.

They nearly escaped last term, winning three of five and drawing 3-3 with Bayern to reach the final day alive. A 2-0 defeat to Mainz sent them down, finishing 17th on 26 points.

That ended a memorable three-year top-flight stay. In year one they qualified for Europe and Jan-Niklas Beste earned a Germany call-up in 2024, then sales and the extra schedule bit hard as they slipped to 16th. A dramatic late win over Elversberg in the promotion play-off kept them up only one more season.

Key loanees departed, with Arijon Ibrahimović, Diant Ramaj, Eren Dinkçi, Hennes Behrens and Leonidas Stergiou returning to parent clubs. Further exits saw Stefan Schimmer join Buriram United on a free, Omar Traoré leave on a free to Udinese then Watford in the same window, and Niklas Dorsch head to Toronto FC, while Thomas Keller and Kevin Müller moved to Dynamo Dresden and Schalke 04. Arrivals so far number four from the 3. Liga, goalkeeper Thomas Dähne from 1860 Munich, right-back Oualid Mhamdi, winger Paul Hennrich from Hoffenheim’s reserves, and forward Marcel Costly, who posted 18 goals and nine assists for 1. FC Ingolstadt.

Summer friendlies have been encouraging, with three wins from five. They lost 3-1 to HSV and drew 1-1 with Bologna, while routing TSV Nördlingen 9-0, SGM Langenau 12-0 and beating Ingolstadt 4-1.

With Ramaj and Müller gone, goalkeeper Frank Feller, who made three Bundesliga appearances last season, could now break through. Predicted lineup, 4-2-3-1: Feller - Mhamdi, Mainka, Gimber, Föhrenbach - Schöppner, Kerber - Hennrich, Beck, Honsak - Zivzivadze.

Winning the league looks extremely unlikely, not least in a year featuring strong sides such as Wolfsburg. Even so, Schmidt’s solid group should be in the promotion shake-up if youngsters Feller, Mhamdi and Hennrich step up as regulars.

Source: BuLi News