Things are heating up in the relegation battle of the second Bundesliga. Four games before the end of the season, the teams between places 13 and 18 are separated by just five points. Right in the middle: the traditional clubs from Nuremberg, Braunschweig and Bielefeld as well as a second division long-running favorite.
You would have to go back a long time in the history of the second division to find a similarly exciting relegation battle as this year – and one that is so well known. Five traditional clubs are currently on the brink. In the rest of the program, every single match counts. An overview.
1. FC Nuremberg (13th place, 33 points, -18 goals)
Location: Even the assumption of the coaching position by sports director Dieter Hecking in mid-February did not bring the hoped-for trend reversal at the “Club”. The worst offensive in the league still lacks a goal threat – or to put it in the words of Nürnberg’s full-back Enrico Valentini: the “ultimate consequence and greed”. With four points ahead of the relegation place, the Franconians still have the most comfortable position in the relegation zone.
Remaining program: Kaiserslautern (H), Magdeburg (A), Rostock (H), Paderborn (A)
Story: 1. FC Nürnberg is now an indispensable part of the first two Bundesliga. The club has been a regular guest in Germany’s top divisions for 26 years now. This is exactly where the demands of the club lie, as at the beginning of the season promotion to the Bundesliga was actually the goal.
Eintracht Braunschweig (14th place, 32 points, -16 goals)
Location: For the newcomer from Braunschweig, the past few weeks have been like a roller coaster ride. Here a surprising victory at St. Pauli (2:1), there a crashing bankruptcy at Paderborn (1:5). A glimmer of hope for the last games of the season: defender Filip Benkovic returns to the starting XI after recovering from a pectoral muscle injury. With the Croatian on the pitch, the “Lions” have an average of 1.69 points, without him it is just 0.36.
Remaining program: Sandhausen (H), Greuther Fürth (A), Regensburg (H), Rostock (A)
Story: It’s not just in the most recent games that things have gone back and forth at Braunschweig, the past few years have also been full of ups and downs. Since the 2017/18 season, Lower Saxony have been relegated three times and promoted twice. However, the last second division stay (19/20) was followed by direct relegation – a bad omen?
Hansa Rostock (15th place, 31 points, -20 goals)
Location: The change of coach seems to have finally borne fruit for the Hanseatic League. After initially three defeats in a row under Alois Schwartz, the North Germans now achieved their second win in a row. The self-confidence in the team is correspondingly high. “We can go into the last four games with confidence”says central defender Rick van Drongelen pugnaciously.
Remaining program: Regensburg (H), Sandhausen (A), Nuremberg (A), Braunschweig (H)
Story: Since the promotion almost two years ago, Hansa Rostock has been in a permanent relegation battle. Last season – the first in the second division in a decade – surprisingly early on came the saving bank. Now the shape curve is pointing up again.
Arminia Bielefeld (16th place, 29 points, -9 goals)
Location: The situation at Arminia Bielefeld is different. Here the coach effect seems to have long since disappeared. Although the team scored eight points in the first four games under Uwe Koschinat, the downward slide continued immediately afterwards. Three losses in a row followed. The advantage over the direct relegation places shrank to just one point.
Remaining program: Fürth (H), Kaiserslautern (A), Paderborn (H), Magdeburg (A)
Story: The fast pace of the football business is particularly evident in this example. While Arminia was still part of the Bundesliga last season, they are now faced with relegation to third division. They last guested there in the 2014/15 season.
Jahn Regensburg (17th place, 28 points, -18 goals)
Location: The mood is currently only darker in Regensburg. After the defeat (1:2) in the basement duel against SV Sandhausen, the Oberpfälzer have been waiting for a win for five games – which is also urgently needed. For Captain Benedikt Gimber it is now clear: “We have to leave our lives on the pitch.”
Remaining program: Rostock (A), Hamburger SV (H), Braunschweig (A), Heidenheim (H)
Story: Regensburg has been part of the second division inventory for six years, but the danger of relegation has never been as acute as this time. This development was not necessarily foreseeable. At the beginning of the season, the East Bavarians even took first place.
SV Sandhausen (18th place, 28 points, -24 goals)
Location: On the other hand, there is hope in Sandhausen. Under the new and old coach Gerhard Kleppinger, the bottom of the table collected a whopping seven points in three games. While staying up in the league was unthinkable a few weeks ago, it is now within reach again. However: With Heidenheim and Hamburger SV, the team still faces a difficult end to the season.
Remaining program: Braunschweig (A), Rostock (H), Heidenheim (A), Hamburger SV (H)
Story: SV Sandhausen can now almost be described as a second division veteran. For eleven years now, the club has not been able to get out of the second division. You can also take that literally. Because not even in all those years has the club occupied a single-digit place in the table at the end of the season – relegation battle as a permanent condition.