analysis
Before the final sprint of the 2nd Bundesliga, all three promoters gathered in the relegation places. Just a snapshot or is more behind it?
As is well known, the table is not lying: Jahn Regensburg has been the last one for a long time, after 29 game days the co -promoters SSV Ulm 1846 and Prussia Münster are currently in 17th and 16th. At Regensburg, it was indicated that the squad would be difficult to compete with.
Also for Ulm and Münster, both of whom played in the regional league two years ago, the table stand is not surprising. To date, there had never been a double march with the 3rd division as a stopover for two clubs in German professional football.
Descent would not be a fiasco for SSV Ulm 1846
Ulm’s managing director Markus Thiele announced last summer that his club would only plan with a mini budget of 14 million euros, although the opponents are called Hamburger SV, FC Schalke 04 or Hertha BSC. Everything is designed in Ulm so “That the shop does not fly around our ears during a descent scenario”the managing director assured. “We have grown so quickly that we are actually not that far.”
Just seven people worked full -time at the office a year ago. Even with a descent, the sparrows could “continue to work stable and serious”said Thiele recently in an interview with the “Die Schwäbische Zeitung”: “That is why we are well prepared that there is no financial fiasco in the 3rd league.”
Promotion coach Thomas Wörle had to go
Nevertheless, a month ago, the promotion coach Thomas Wörle had to go despite undisputed merit. Thiele, which is therefore sharply criticized by the fans, absolutely wanted “Set a new impulse to get the last out in the remaining games”. Now coach Robert Lechleiter is trying Turnaround In the Danube Stadium, where there are two home wins under his direction – against Hertha BSC on Easter Sunday (April 20, 2025, 1:30 p.m.), the third will follow.
For Thiele, the relegation would be “Giant step”because: “If we can play second -class next season, we have the great chance to develop and permanently establish ourselves in professional football – i.e. 2nd Bundesliga or even higher.”
Grown almost too quickly in terms of sport
Ulm and Münster have grown faster in terms of sport than the location could keep up economically. Symbolishly for the need to catch up in the Münsterland is the long overdue upgrading of the Prussian stadium, in which the ball was already rolling to found the Bundesliga. It was the only stadium that was sold out against Hamburger SV on the first matchday on August 24, 1963 with 38,000 spectators.
The city of Münster has just given the partial building permit for the west grandstand. The complete conversion should be completed by the 2027/28 season. In which division Prussia Münster will be native is hardly to be predicted. First of all, all forces for relegation are bundled. In the away game at promotion favorite 1. FC Köln (Sunday, 1.30 p.m.), however, the newcomer is a blatant outsider.
Prussia Münster on a descent
After all, goalkeeper Johannes Schenk did not lose his optimism when he said after the home game against Karlsruher SC (1-1): “The weekend has shown that you can also get points with favorite teams. Why not we in Cologne? Eight to nine points we need from five games, then we stay in there.” What speaks against this: Only three goals have succeeded in the “eagle wearers” in the last five games.
At the start of the second half of the season, the location had a five -point lead in 16th place. At the end of February there were still two – and five in front of a direct relegation zone, and in mid -March the newcomer stayed above the line with three points before Eintracht Braunschweig (and a much better goal difference).
Sascha Hildmann continued in office
So far, the club management has not been tempted to use the alleged panacea of a change of coach. Sascha Hildmann has been in office since December 2019 and also deserved trust in the sixth year. Without his intervention, it would hardly have been possible to escape the fourth class. It is possible that it will only be decided on the last day of the match what becomes of Ulm and Münster – then both meet in the direct duel.
In Regensburg, light in the basement burns through the victory against FC Schalke 04 (2: 0), but six points behind the relegation rank are still a severe mortgage. The Jahn is almost condemned to a threesome at the 1st FC Magdeburg (Sunday 1:30 p.m.) so that there is really a realistic chance of rescue. The promotion in the relegation against SV Wehen Wiesbaden was a surprise last year because the Upper Palatinate almost played their lead in the 3rd division.
The gap on the television funds
The direct relegation would be associated with considerable cuts: Instead of planning television money with almost nine million euros, the club would have to be modest again with 1.3 million euros. The differences on the revenue side are immensely: While the German football league in the business report for the 2nd Bundesliga in 2022/23 expelled a total turnover of 786 million euros, the DFB comes to just under 235 million euros in a similar line-up for the 3rd division.
It is clear that it has a hard time with such a discrepancy. However, they are not without a chance for the final sprint.