The guests had no chance in the hot Ludwigspark: 1. FC Saarbrücken moved up to 13th place in the table with a 2-0 win against SV Waldhof Mannheim. This ensures that we will stay in the league.
1. FC Saarbrücken won 2-0 at home in Ludwigspark against Waldhof Mannheim on Saturday.
After just five minutes, Patrick Sontheimer had the chance to give the hosts the lead in Ludwigspark, but was interrupted at the last moment. Otherwise, things remained quiet at first.
Weak start
The derby initially lacked fire, with both teams struggling to create chances. Instead, there was a drinking break while left-back Niko Bretschneider was treated for an injury to the back of his left thigh and then had to leave the field. Calogero Rizzuto came for him.
That seemed to have done the home team good. Because in the 23rd minute the score was 1-0 for Saarbrücken. Central defender Robin Bormuth served Tim Civeja in midfield, who played to striker Kai Brünker on the left front – and Brünker scored from around 14 meters.
Controversial penalty
As a result, the FCS was much more active, attacked higher and created chances. Alone: There was no further goal before the break. The Saarbrücken team defended well, but the Mannheim team didn’t get a chance.
It was Florian Pick who made it 2-0 for FCS in the 55th minute – a controversial penalty. Brünker had previously run towards a cross, Mannheim’s Oluwaseun Ogbemudia had apparently extended his arm towards him and was shown a yellow card for it. Pick hammered the ball into the bottom right corner – no chance for Mannheim keeper Thijmen Nijhuis. It was not clear whether referee Lukas Benen’s decision for the penalty was correct.
The guests remained offensively colorless, Saarbrücken let the ball circulate in front of the 15,600 spectators in Ludwigspark. However, the game fizzled out a bit towards the end, with fans only causing problems off the pitch with pyrotechnics and disruptions.
Relegation assured, Giannikis happy
In the table, 1. FC Saarbrücken ends up in 13th place with 44 points and is now mathematically guaranteed to stay in the league. “We wanted to do this on our own and not do any mathematical calculations,” said FCS coach Argirios Giannikis after the game, particularly emphasizing the team’s unified performance.
It continues on Sunday, May 10th. Then 1. FC Saarbrücken has to play against Hoffenheim’s second team from 7.30 p.m. Even if the last two league games will not be of great sporting significance, Giannikis wants to keep the excitement going. After all, there is still a season highlight waiting: the final of the Saarland Cup and with it the opportunity to qualify for the DFB Cup.
50 years Bundesliga promotion
An anniversary was also celebrated on the sidelines of the game: 50 years ago, on June 13, 1976, 1. FC Saarbrücken returned to the 1st Bundesliga. For this occasion, the still living blue-black legends of this season were guests in the stadium, including Dieter Ferner and Felix Magath – the latter also as an expert on SR television with sports editor Tom Klose.
To the table
Further results and the table of the 3rd league can be found here.
The SR info news also reported on this topic on the radio on May 2nd, 2026. The sportarena will also provide a summary on SR TV at 5.30 p.m.
More about 1. FC Saarbrücken:
First published: May 1, 2026 | 12:50 p.m
