After 23 years of professional football
©IMAGO
FC Erzgebirge Aue was relegated after 23 years of professional football. The first third division win of 2026 could not be achieved against SV Wehen Wiesbaden either. So the 2:2 (1:1) wasn’t enough to postpone relegation again. And of all things in the year of the club’s 80th anniversary. Moritz Flotho (24th minute) and Tarik Gözüsirin (78th) had put the Hessians in the lead, while Tristan Zobel (27th) and Moritz Seiffert (85th) scored the Auer equalizer. In the 69th minute, Wiesbaden’s Niklas May was shown a yellow-red card after repeated foul play.
Interim coach Khvicha Shubitidze set an example for the future by bringing in 22-year-old Louis Lord in goal. “It was agreed that Martin Männel should be there until the cup, then we wanted to reward Louis for his training achievements,” said the coach at “Magenta Sport”. Lord was able to distinguish himself on several occasions. But he was powerless when Flotho conceded a goal to make it 0-1. Previously he was lucky that Sascha Mockenhaupt (6th) didn’t put the ball into the empty Auer box from three meters.
Aue fought back. Shortly after the 0-1, Zobel used a long free kick to equalize from a tight angle. After that, Aue was the better team and created good chances even after the change. Wiesbaden took the lead again with a direct corner from Gözüsirin (78′), which Lord didn’t look good at. Aue was able to equalize again: Seiffert (85th) converted a cross. The draw leaves Aue as the only team of all 54 German professional clubs without a win in 2026. After the final whistle and relegation had been confirmed, there was a brief moment of total silence in the Erzgebirgsstadion.
2-1 against Verl: VfL Osnabrück before promotion to the second division
VfL Osnabrück’s promotion to the second division could be perfect on Sunday. With a goal from Bernd Riesselmann in the fifth minute of stoppage time, the leaders of the 3rd league won 2-1 (0-1) against SC Verl.
Whether VfL can celebrate tomorrow or achieve promotion on their own in the next game at SV Wehen Wiesbaden on May 3rd will be decided by FC Energie Cottbus’ away appearance at Viktoria Köln (1:30 p.m./Magenta Sport). If third place in the table loses, VfL’s return to the second division would be certain before the final three matchdays. The relegation rank is already certain.
