2. Bundesliga 23/24 Season Preview: 1. FC Magdeburg
As champions of the 3. Liga in the 2021/22 season, Magdeburg were hopeful of avoiding immediate relegation, just as they had done in their previous trip to the 2. Bundesliga. Under Christian Titz, a manager held in high regard within the footballing community, Magdeburg played an irresistible brand of attacking football accompanied by a competent possession game. They did have their fair share of defensive issues which we will talk about later.
Magdeburg’s biggest accomplishment besides finishing an excellent 11th, was their ability to go toe-to-toe with the league's giants. This included beating Hamburg twice, one that Titz and the several former Hamburg players within the Magdeburg squad would’ve been thrilled with those results.
So. What are the ambitions for Magdeburg this season?
Are they a team that can establish themselves as a top half side or will they regress towards the relegation scrap.
Team Details
Stadion (Capacity): Stadion Magdeburg (30,098)
Kit manufacturer: Hummel
Nicknames: FCM, Der Club (The Club)
Coach: Christian Titz
Captain: Baris Atik
Signings & Departures
Signings: Xavier Amaechi (Hamburger SV), Jean Hugonet (Austria Lustenau), Tatsuya Ito (Sint-Truidense V.V. loan made permanent) Alexander Nollenberger (SpVgg Bayreuth), Julian Pollersbeck (Olympique Lyonnais), Tarek Chahed (Berliner AK 07), Jonas Fabisch (Hamburger SV II), Ahmet Arslan (Holstein Kiel), Andi Hoti (Inter Milan)
Departures: Moritz-Broni Kwarteng (VfL Bochum), Alexander Bittroff (Jahn Regensburg), Kai Brünker (1. FC Saarbrücken), Andreas Müller (SV Darmstadt 98), Julian Rieckmann (Waldof Mannheim), Leon Schmökel (without club), Tim Sechelmann (Waldof Mannheim), Maximilian Ullmann (Venezia, end of loan), Tim Boss (SV Elversberg), Maximilian Franzke (without club), Florian Kath (without club), Léo Scienza (SSV Ulm)
There is a decidedly Hamburger SV feel to the summer window for Magdeburg, whether that's familiarity or just great scouting who knows. One thing that is for certain, Magdeburg are looking to establish themselves as a 2. Bundesliga side.
Speaking of ex-Hamburg players, four in total have featured for Hamburg over the last five seasons with the most recent being Xavier Amaechi. It’s been an inconsistent spell for Amaechi in Germany, he’s had a loan spell at Bolton Wanderers in between and with no likelihood of playing for Hamburg. Magdeburg provides Amaechi a good landing spot to improve.
Jonas Fabisch was Hamburg’s II team captain, another player looking to prove his worth at this level. Tatsuya Ito has been in Magdeburg for 18 months and made his deal permanent. He carved out a role off the bench fantastically, and can bust a game open when required.
But how about Julian Pollersbeck, the perfect archetype goalkeeper for this system. A sweeper keeper with strong on the ball assets and decent shot-stopping abilities. Someone who played under Christian Titz at Hamburg and did so successfully.
To bolster the attack with the departure of Moritz-Broni Kwarteng to Bochum, Ahmet Arslan comes in to fill the void left. Arslan was the top scorer in the 3. Liga for neighbours Dynamo Dresden. After failing to carve out a regular role at Holstein Kiel, Magdeburg is another opportunity to showcase his skills at this level.
Potential setup
When Magdeburg plays, you pay attention because there is a good chance we will see tactical versatility and counter pressing. But something we saw last season is when teams looked to press Magdeburg, they were susceptible to turnovers leading to high quality scoring chances.
So, with a second consecutive campaign in the league lets see if this experience will help them progress further up the standings. Daniel Heber was an excellent acquisition in January, and he quickly became the leader of this defensive unit. Jamie Lawrence enters his second season in Magdeburg on loan from, Bayern Munich, and is someone who endeared himself to Titz throughout the last campaign.
The midfield remains the same with Amara Condé, Silas Gnaka and Daniel Elfadli. Elfadli has been courted by Hamburg throughout this entire window, but it seems at least for the opening few matchdays he will still be in Magdeburg. These three were excellent as a trio, but if Titz is looking to mix it up there is Arslan and Connor Krempicki.
Up top, Magdeburg have plenty of options but one attacking three I’d love to see more of is the Ito, Baris Atik and Jason Ceka combination. We saw this in the final game of the season against Arminia Bielefeld, and they were dynamic, uncontainable and exhilarating. Should Titz desire starting a traditional striker leading the line, Atik would move to the left and Ito would come off the bench. Leaving options for Luc Castaignos or Luca Schüler. There are also multiple interchangeable options out wide with Mohammed El Hankouri, Alexander Nollenberger and the aforementioned Amaechi.
Magdeburg has a strong squad, with plenty of depth pieces that could easily start in Wehen Wiesbaden on matchday one.
Fan Perspective
As Magdeburg enters uncharted territory, how are the fans feeling about the upcoming campaign? I asked Magdeburg fan Lennart Birth to give us the 411 about his clubs prospects.
MK: What are your hopes for the upcoming season?
LB: After 1. FC Magdeburg managed to remain a member of the 2. Bundesliga, struggling in the beginning but playing a very successful second half of the season 22/23 and finally finishing in 11th place of the league, sports manager Otmar Schork now proclaimed a “carefree development” as the goal of the new season. Coach Christian Titz, who promoted with the club from the third division in 2022 and who now goes into his fourth season in the capital of Saxony-Anhalt highlights that the FCM should try to further increase defensive stability in order to succeed in the new round. The 55 goals against in the last season – whilst conceding 48 times – seems to be an aspect worth to confront and improve.
MK: Which summer signing are you most looking forward to seeing play?
LB: The signing of Ahmet Arslan who came from Magdeburg’s big eastern German rival Dynamo Dresden (6th in the 3. Liga) came to the fans both as a surprise and an euphorigenic moment. The offensive midfielder scored 25 times in 36 third league matches for Dresden, assisting another nine times. This makes him the top scorer of the 3. Liga. He is definitely worth having an eye on. The approximately 400.000 Euros paid for Arslan to Holstein Kiel who did not plan with the Dresden-loanee seem a good investment as he could compensate the leave of Magdeburgs recent goal getter Moritz Broni Kwarteng (sold for 1 million Euros to 1. Bundesliga-team VfL Bochum).
MK: Who is one player from Magdeburg fans of the league should keep an eye on?
LB: Baris Atik without any doubts is and remains the central figure to Magdeburg’s recent success. When the offensive virtuoso came to the FCM from unemployment in 2021 he awaked the clubs offensive in an imposing manner. Together with Jason Ceka, Moritz Broni Kwarteng and Tatsuya Ito the wing player was a central figure to Magdeburg’s enormous offensive strength and dominance perfectly matching Christian Titz’s approach of playing football with a lot of ball possession and match control in the opponent’s half.
MK: Fans should go to the MDCC_Arena this season because?
LB: Its not just the unique atmosphere in the by the supporters referred to as Heinz-Krügel-stadium repeatedly packed MDCC-Arena, but also the interesting matches to come that make it worth visiting 1. FC Magdeburg. With 14.300 season tickets sold – a new club record – the sport city Magdeburg shows its eager and passionate relation to its European Cup winners club.
While coming from dark times about ten years ago only playing against the second team of Hertha BSC and having no chance against Schalke 04 in a friendly match, suddenly Magdeburg is one the best 30 teams in Germany confronting Hertha BSC, Schalke 04, the Hamburger SV and other big traditional teams such as F.C. Hansa Rostock or 1. FC Nürnberg. This impressive renaissance of a club which was among the best ones in the former GDR until 1990 comes along with the passionate support of one of the loudest and most impressing fan scenes in entire Germany. The Block U with its deafening chants will make your visit to the HKS unforgettable.
MK: Where do you think Magdeburg will finish this season?
LB: I am very optimistic about the FCM performing even better than in the last round. Most of the central figures to Magdeburg’s success remained in the club. Christian Titz and Otmar Schork brought continuity. With Kwarteng and Müller only two important players left the FCM heading to 1. Bundesliga clubs, whilst new players such as Julian Pollersbeck (from Lyon), Amet Arslan (from Kiel), Andi Hoti (from Milano) and Alexander Nollenberger (from Bayreuth) seem to be very promising. I believe that the 1. FC Magdeburg will manage to play a good roll in the 2. Bundesliga, finishing the league in the 9th place and increasing its points from the recent 43 to more than 45. It is likely that the club will manage to bother the promoting aspirants keeping a good distance to the relegation places.
Predictions
There is good reason to be optimistic if you’re a Magdeburg, even if there were some key departures in the summer. It’s clear that the style of play Titz wants to implement does work in the 2. Bundesliga, that being a strong possession game with a flexible front three who provide versatility and unpredictability.
The big question is defensively. Magdeburg were below average all of last season and despite having a deep squad of defenders, how many can consistently perform at this level? If Magdeburg has addressed this systematic issue, then they are golden.
Worst case scenario is being in the relegation fight, but I don’t see this. I believe they will be the surprise of the 2. Bundesliga and will be a dark horse in the promotion race.