Pennant bearer: Together with (front, from left) Maurice Krattenmacher, Josef Welzmüller and Leonard Grob, Benedikt Bauer celebrates the championship and thanks the Haching fans. On Sunday, there will be a much bigger party if SpVgg actually makes it to the 3rd league. © IMAGO/Sven Leifer
"Two really cool games at the end" are Benedikt Bauer with SpVgg Unterhaching ahead of him. The 19-year-old Erdinger is fighting for promotion to the third division after the success in the Regionalliga Bayern against the Energie Cottbus team.
Erding/Unterhaching – After winning the championship, "a burden has fallen off" for the young professional. Sandro Wagner's team had a total six-point lead over their closest rivals Würzburger Kickers at the end of the season. But it has not yet been possible to celebrate exuberantly. Because: "We can't buy anything from the championship."
First of all, the promotion games are scheduled for today, Wednesday and next Sunday, which you have to successfully contest as champions in Germany's fourth-highest league in order to get a taste of professional league air. Intensive preparations are currently underway for this.
In the battle for league three, SpVgg will face Energie Cottbus, the first-placed team in the Regionalliga Nordost. "It's a pretty strong league," says Bauer. "They're two teams with a lot of quality, so it's all about nuances. What will come out in the end is difficult to predict. But I'm convinced that we have a very good chance."
The 19-year-old is particularly looking forward to the atmosphere of the two finals. The former Bundesliga club from Cottbus also has a large stadium and many supporters who will certainly support their team loudly in the first meeting (kick-off at 20.30 CET).
At the decisive home game, which kicks off at 13 p.m. on Sunday, it is therefore particularly important to the ambitious footballer that "not only our ultras, but really all the spectators who come whip us forward." He is sure that a real "witch's cauldron can be created".
Already in the U19s, the defensive player managed to get promoted to the A-Junioren-Bundesliga together with his team, but in the men's area it is something completely different. If he wins against Cottbus, the sports journalism student will also face a reunion with his former youth club. Until the U14s, the defensive ace still played for the Munich Lions.
Strong in tackles: Benedikt Bauer (left) leaves Viktoria Aschaffenburg's Silas Zehnder standing. © IMAGO/Sven Leifer
It was only after returning to his hometown club in Altenerding that he moved to the Haching U17 Bundesliga team the following year. "It would be a small dream to be able to play in Grünwalder around 1860," he admits. But much more important than the neighbourhood duel is to gain experience in the third division and to be present both in training and in games. "It's something you take with you for life," explains the Regionalliga defender, who wants to work in particular on his calmness on the ball.
Bauer has already got a lot of playing time for his age throughout the season and can look back on a really good points round with the perfect final result. "The quality for young players" in Unterhaching is also very good, and he was even able to hold his own against strong opponents such as Bayern Munich 2 and Kickers Würzburg.
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To this end, the young footballer, who laced up his football boots for the first time together with his older brother at Rot-Weiß Klettham, not only trains intensively on the pitch, but also keeps fit through strength training and regenerative units.
With the former professional Sandro Wagner, his club has "a really good and very committed coach" on the sidelines from the point of view of the Erdinger. He impresses not only with his human appearance on and off the pitch, but also with his expertise. "He's incredibly concerned with how football works," says Bauer.
In general, the young footballer feels really comfortable at SpVgg. He has been wearing the jersey of the traditional club since 2018. "For a bigger club, it's really family-like and not so stiff."
And the former youth player will therefore continue to play for SpVgg Unterhaching next year, regardless of league affiliation, before his contract officially ends in 2024. "Then we'll see how the path goes for me."
