After the Christmas break, the Bundesliga is back – and starts with three games in seven days. This week will be crucial for some clubs.
“We have to be sharp right from the start,” Sebastian Kehl made clear. The Dortmund sports director knows that BVB needs points immediately. After a three-week break, there are also some possibilities to change the table position. Because the Bundesliga starts the new year with three match days within one week. And it’s not just for BVB, who are not satisfied with sixth place in the table, that there’s a lot at stake. Even in the bottom half of the table there is a lot at stake, for some coaches it’s even about their job.
This week could be crucial for Jess Thorup. The Augsburg coach was only able to win one of the last seven Bundesliga games – against bottom team Bochum in November. Shortly before Christmas, FCA lost 5-1 to newly promoted Holstein Kiel, a bitter blow for the team from the Fugger city.
Thorup kept his job, but the mood was still bad. Striker Philip Tietz saw the solution in hard training: “In good German we would have to be enslaved every day until the preparation starts again. Maybe it will happen.” In any case, it was clear to Tietz: “It has to get really good. Because it can’t go on like this.”
With Stuttgart (home game), Union Berlin (away game) and Werder Bremen (away game), three difficult opponents await Augsburg at the start of the year. If Thorup and his team leave this series without a win, the air could become thin.
If the DFB sports court ruling stands, VfL Bochum would start the new year with two wins in a row. After the lighter was thrown in Berlin, the result of the game at Union Berlin (1:1) in mid-December was declared invalid and the game was scored 2-0 for Bochum (you can read more about the verdict here). Union announced that it would appeal.
In any case, the result of the last Bochum game before Christmas remains unchanged. New coach Dieter Hecking triumphed in front of his home crowd for the first time against 1. FC Heidenheim, winning 2-0. The people of Bochum now want to carry this momentum into the new year. Hecking announced after the win over Heidenheim: “If we perform like this, a lot is still possible. It’s going to be a wild ride, the next 19 games.” It starts with the game at Mainz 05 on Saturday, before FC St. Pauli and Rasenballsport Leipzig visit the Ruhrstadion.
Holstein Kiel is also hoping for a similar euphoria. The promoted team has scored eight points in the 15 Bundesliga games so far – not enough to stay in the league. But coach Marcel Rapp made it clear: “We weren’t devastated when we lost games. Nevertheless, the win against a seasoned Bundesliga team like FC Augsburg was fundamentally good.” The 5-1 win in the Holstein Stadium at home was a great win, with Phil Harres once again standing out.
The center forward, who moved from the regional league to Kiel Fjord in the summer, is now a regular player in Rapp’s team. He has scored four goals in the last six games. In the second half of the series, the 22-year-old now wants to step up and make his contribution to the “Storks” possibly staying in the league. With Freiburg (away), Dortmund (at home) and Hoffenheim (at home), the start is tough.