Bissen continue their ascent – without Turpel

11 gameweeks into the season, Atert Bissen are fourth, one point away from the podium. They also boast the third-best attack in the division, with 24 goals scored.

Such records hadn't been seen in the competition since Swift Hesper took the league by storm in 2020, bankrolled by Flavio Becca and ultimately finishing only three points behind champions Fola Esch.

Fast forward to five years later, and the scenario has changed completely. Fola are now fighting for promotion in the second tier, Hesper are targeting a mid-table spot without the same financial backing, but another team, still playing lower-league football back then, have become serious contenders with a clever transfer strategy over the last two seasons.

After winning the third division’s northern section with an unbeaten record (24 wins, 6 draws, 120 goals scored), Atert continued to rise and strengthen, poaching several players that have continued to be influential in the top tier, including Brandon Soares Rosa, Khalid Abi Ramzi and Lamine Fall.

Their ambitions were rewarded with a play-off place, and they eventually defeated Bettembourg 1-0 to reach the Luxembourgish football elite for the first time ever.

Even though they announced several former professionals and big-name signings such as Mehdi Terki, Toufik Zeghdane or Sami El Anabi, the beginning was far from ideal. Bissen had one point after four games. It took the crowd at Stade Klengbousbierg until mid-September and Matchday 6 to see their team score for the first time – and it ended in a 5-0 rout of Rosport.

With that victory, the floodgates were opened, and Atert Bissen never looked back. They have amassed seven wins and one draw in their last eight matches in all competitions, scoring 31 goals in the process (a staggering 3.88 goals per game). Star striker Roman Ferber has been pulling the strings, with nine goal contributions in six games, but young midfielder Abi Ramzi has also been impactful, with eight goals and two assists all season.

Last Sunday, they achieved perhaps the most impressive result of the whole campaign, with a 7-1 dismantling of Hostert. Ferber scored a hat-trick, Abi Ramzi found the net from a free kick, while captain Adriel Santos also contributed with a brace.

Thanks to those three points, Bissen are now challenging for a European place, and have every chance to snatch it at the end of the season. With Niederkorn's inconsistence, Racing Luxembourg battling relegation and Dudelange’s defence faltering recently, there seems to be a gap for the newly-promoted team to slide into.

It was a vital win after some deeply unfortunate events off the pitch earlier in the week. The team’s striker, Dave Turpel, announced his retirement. The 52-cap Luxembourg international failed to make a single appearance for Bissen since signing in July 2024 due to fitness issues. After being involved in a road accident in 2020, he had to spend several months in hospital and never managed to bounce back from it.

Turpel was one of the deadliest strikers in the country until his injury, and a staple of Luc Holtz’s national team selections. He was the BGL Ligue Golden Boot winner in 2017/18 with an astonishing 33 goals in 26 games, scoring 17 in his last seven matches in an unparalleled run in Luxembourgish football history.

In contrast, he mustered a total of 12 appearances since October 2020, still managing to score five goals for Progrès Niederkorn, all in the 2023/24 season. In the end, after many restarts and setbacks, he opted for putting an end to an illustrious career, when faced with the prospect of living in a wheelchair if he kept on playing.

Turpel’s absence will hurt the team more off the pitch than it does on it. He has been unreliable due to his recurring knee issues, but the fact clubs kept offering him contracts for every year regardless of his delicate situation underlines just how lethal he could be on his day. At the age of 32, it is time for a change in careers for the former Red Lion.

Strassen inaugurate new stadium with Perez masterclass

Veteran striker Nicolas Perez scored a hat-trick as UNA Strassen recorded a thumping 5-0 victory against Rodange 91 in their first match at the Stade an de Millewisen. The first goal at the new ground belongs to Brazilian attacker Matheus, who opened the scoring from a penalty on Sunday afternoon.

With their majestic win, Strassen jumped to the top of the league (albeit with FC Differdange having two games in hand).

UNA’s board have long held ambitions of shaking up the Luxembourgish football dynamics and challenging the existing powerhouses, and the last ten years produced a gradual improvement towards this goal. The inauguration of a new stadium undeniably goes to show how far the club have come since the days of playing in the lower leagues, as recently as 2015.

They made considerable strides by qualifying for the UEFA Conference League in 2024, stepping out onto the international scene for the first time ever – at the expense of Swift Hesperange and Jeunesse Esch, who were both denied a license despite finishing above Strassen. Last season, UNA secured European football on their own merits, ending the season in second place behind Differdange.

In 2025/26, it is once again Strassen who have the biggest chance of ultimately toppling a relentless FCD side, who are building on their domestic double last season with admirable expertise (and resources).

If Differdange win their two games in hand, they will be six points ahead with an almost perfect record, their solitary draw coming against F91 Dudelange. Strassen may dread dropping some points at the beginning of the season, but however the endgame pans out, they seem destined to finish in the top two – something that wouldn't have been said about the team not that long ago.

Wins like the one on Sunday are the hallmark of a consistent club: a scrappy, cagey encounter where Strassen gained the upper hand and collected the three points. It took until after Rodange striker Kévin Schur’s dismissal in the 51st minute for the deadlock to be broken by Matheus' penalty.

The Perez show started after the hour mark, as he completed his hat-trick within 15 minutes to practically decide the fate of the three points and inflict another defeat on a Rodange team flirting with relegation 11 games in.

The final touch was added by wing-back Daryl Myre, who scored his first goal of the season. After a stressful first half, the nearly 500 spectators could breathe a sigh of relief as the team settled into their new home well. Unfortunately, it will be challenging to keep the momentum going as Strassen will play their next home game in almost exactly one month’s time. The opponents? Differdange.

Kakoko saves his job – for now

Racing Union Luxembourg delayed their big managerial decision by another week by recording a convincing 3-1 win over European challengers Niederkorn.

The result means Yannick Kakoko remains in his job as manager, after he was reportedly told by the board that he needs a minimum of four points in the last two games of October to avoid being sacked.

Defeating Niederkorn was already a tough ask, but the next test for the German coach and his team will be an even sterner task: getting a result against a monstrous Differdange side. Performances like the one on Saturday afternoon in Oberkorn will surely help foster belief in the team, after a disastrous start to the campaign that left them with one win in their first eight outings before last week.

Racing started strong against Progrès, taking less than 20 minutes to grab the lead, when new signing Jesaja Herrmann headed in a brilliant cross from Mathys Saban. The rest of the first half was about keeping the defensive shape intact and picking the right moments to counter the Wasps.

Early in the second half, it was once again Saban who took centre stage, launching a long shot into the bottom near corner past a desperate Sébastien Flauss. The French winger was unplayable all night, showcasing his flair and accuracy on both goals. 20 minutes later, he also assisted Volkan Ballicalioglu with an incisive through ball behind the helpless defenders, for the German attacker to put the cherry on top with a composed finish.

A penalty conceded in the closing stages prevented it from being a perfect night for the Sky Blues, but it remains their most collected all-round display all season.

The dark clouds looming over Kakoko’s Racing tenure are slowly clearing up too. This win genuinely seemed like the light at the end of a tunnel under a manager who has proven his worth last year by leading a slightly-above-average squad to joint-third place. Whether the board decides to stick or twist after a potential loss against Differdange in the mid-week fixture remains in question. Defeating the reigning champions, or even holding out for a draw, is an arduous task, which the directors inevitably have to take into account.

For now, we have seen the proof: when the head coach’s job is on the line, the players can deliver.

Around the pitches

US Mondorf stunned F91 Dudelange with a come-from-behind 3-1 win to bounce back from their recent struggles. Both sides committed clumsy mistakes, but it was the Angry Goats who capitalised on their opportunities more successfully to provide a remarkable upset against a strong F91 team, whose title chances are fading by the day.

Mamer 32 are the new bottom side after losing to fellow newly-promoted outfit Käerjéng in an eventful game that ended 4-2 after some stoppage time drama. UNK’s Abou Dieye scored a late brace to decide the game with one of the assists coming from goalkeeper Christopher González. Both teams remain rooted in automatic relegation spots.

Union Titus Pétange registered their second win of the season against Jeunesse Canach, with advanced playmaker Saïd Arab scoring the only goal of the game. Pétange managed to escape the bottom four with these crucial points, while Canach suffered their second 1-0 defeat in the last three matches, but are still sitting in mid-table.

Victoria Rosport’s misery continues. They have now lost four of their last five games, scoring less than a goal on average. This time, they deployed a tactic based entirely on defending deep and countering when the opportunity presented itself. FCD kept the entire game under control, though, and scored twice after sublime finishes by Luis Jakobi and Adham El Idrissi.

Jeunesse Esch beat Swift Hesper in a cagey 1-0 win to close the gap to their opponents to one point. Leon Elshan’s individual brilliance decided a close-fought affair between two top-half sides. Reinhold Breu’s young squad are coming together nicely after a tricky start, only losing to Dudelange and Differdange in the past six weeks.

What next?

Differdange will host Racing Union Luxembourg on Wednesday night to play a previously postponed fixture that could propel the title holders to the top and result in a managerial change for RFCUL. The league continues with the next gameweek on Sunday.