Bundesliga thriller on Friday
Traditional club is about to descend
02.05.2025 – 9:00 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
For Bochum, it is all about everything on Friday evening: If VfL loses VfL in Heidenheim, the relegation is certain. The fans still massively strengthen the team.
Already the day before the decisive game against 1. FC Heidenheim there was a state of emergency at VfL Bochum. Over 3,000 fans came to the Ruhr Stadium to loudly support their team in the final training session. Before the east curve, a banner with the inscription “Always forward VfL Bochum”, accompanied by speech choirs – hung a scene that showed: The belief in relegation lives at the Ruhr area club.
In the middle of the action: coach Dieter Hecking. The tension was noticeable, recently he reacted irritated to critical questions from journalists. When they addressed his statements about the quality of the team, he said in reprint: “Please write, Mr. Hecking asks the question of quality.”
The word “shit” also fell more often in the analysis – and aptly describe the condition. If VfL loses the descent from the Bundesliga on Friday evening (from 8.30 p.m. in the LiveTicker from T-Online) at 1. FC Heidenheim.
With 21 points, VfL ranks in 18th place in the table. Heidenheim is on relegation place 16 with 25 points. If the FCH should increase its points account by a win to 28, Bochum could no longer achieve this value even with two victories in the last two season games. But descent would be fixed.
Nevertheless, Hecking worked on Thursday. “I use the word ‘shit’ too often, I notice that too,” he said with a smile and added: “The anticipation for this final is huge. When I started here, nobody expected that we got this chance.”
As a “brutal final”, Tom Krauss described the starting point. After just one point from the past six games, VfL is in a critical situation – however, hope lives. With a win against the table-16. Bochum could make up the ground again in the relegation battle with Heidenheim and Holstein Kiel.
The fact that the supporters believe in relegation became clear by the “Insanely good action” on May 1st, according to Hecking. In addition, the sports court confirmed the judgment about the game at Union Berlin – the game through which Bochum awarded two points and the VfL is still in the race for staying in class (you can read more about this here).
In terms of sport, however, the balance sheet looks dark: the defensive puts the most goals by far, and there is also a lack of punch, especially away. The descent would be obvious in view of these numbers. Nevertheless, Hecking stood in front of his team: “The team showed character for months. She was lying on the ground, recovering.”
Heidenheim also goes into the game with emotional tailwind. Coach Frank Schmidt said: “The struggle for relegation is lust and not load for us.” The recent three defeats before the success at VfB Stuttgart (1-0) are ticked off. Against Bochum you can take a “giant step” towards the relegation place, says Schmidt: “This is our drive.”