The miracle of Bielefeld didn’t happen – Arminia continues their free fall and will play third-rate next season. On the other hand, SV Wehen Wiesbaden celebrates the well-deserved promotion, also thanks to Benedict Hollerbach: the striker scored twice on Tuesday evening (06.06.2023) to make it 2-1 on the Alm.
Overall, Bielefeld is relegated mainly because of the catastrophic defense. In the regular season, 62 goals were conceded, and another six were added in the relegation. Wehen-Wiesbaden had the right counterpart: Hollerbach with 17 goals this season including relegation and his neighbor Ivan Prtajin with 16 are the best strike duo in the three top German leagues.
“Crying is okay, working would be better”
Wehen Wiesbaden celebrated their third promotion to the second division after 2007 and 2019. Double packer Hollerbach celebrated: “We’ve rewarded ourselves for a really good season. Now we can celebrate for two hours.” His coach Markus Kauczinski said: “I’m really happy for the team. We have good and dangerous guys who can score goals out of nowhere, so we didn’t feel like outsiders. The big trump card was team spirit.”
Bielefeld legend Fabian Klos said after the descent to the sports show: “A farewell always feels crappy, but this one was particularly unnecessary. The first leg was a disaster, but today we actually had the chance to really ignite something again. We actually have to make it 2-0 and 3-0, but in the end it was So it’s typical what happened here.”
Offensive player Robin Hack admitted: “It doesn’t get any worse than being relegated twice in a row. A lot was missing this season.” Coach Uwe Koschinat criticized: “Crying after the game is okay, but it would be better to work hard during the season. At the end of the day, you just have to say it wasn’t good enough in terms of sport. That hurts a lot.”
Arminia fans whistle before kick-off
For Arminia, the ordeal in this second leg had already begun three quarters of an hour before kick-off. When the crew came out of the catacombs to warm up, there was immediately a shrill whistle concert from their own curve, there were angry chants like: “We are Arminen and you are not!” A giant banner was also rolled out: “Eleven Players Who Are Eleven Mercenaries”it said, which of course was pure mockery, at least in relation to the toilets that had been storming for Bielefeld for twelve years.
Klos was then also in the starting XI, although he had severely criticized his team-mates after the first leg performance, which was devastating in every respect, with a 0:4 and serious riots by the Bielefeld supporters: “This team is not a team.” In addition to Klos, coach Uwe Koschinat had brought four other newcomers, but also honestly admitted: “It’s not about going into the game with lofty goals, the events of Friday are too deep for that. We want to be different and win.”
Klos in the starting eleven, Klos with the lead
The will was there, and so was the way. Bielefeld started with a lot of pressure, Klos made a sign for his team-mates after only two minutes with a foul on the sidelines. Shortly thereafter, he raised his fist in the air. A long drive from keeper Martin Fraisl slipped through to striker Bryan Lasme, who crossed perfectly for Klos. The Bielefeld legend volleyed from 18 meters and caught Wehen goalkeeper Florian Stritzel ice cold: The hard but durable ball slipped under his body to make it 1-0.
The fans rewarded the effort with cheering, which was initially restrained, but which became much louder after a midfield tackle by Sebastian Vasiliadis. And Bielefeld tried to follow suit. Defensively vulnerable, there were more chances going forward: after Lasme’s solo, Gino Fechner had a hard time clearing (15′), seconds later Oliver Hüsing missed the 2-0 with a free-standing header.
Hüsing only hits the crossbar, Hollerbach equalizes
Wehen repeatedly set promising counterattacks, but defensively wobbled enormously. Luck helped in the 25th minute when another Hüsing header hit the crossbar. Seconds later, Stritzel fished Jomaine Consbruch’s shot just out of the right corner.
The 2-0 would have been well deserved, but the usury of chances took revenge in the 35th minute. Arminia defender Andres Andrade misjudged a long escape from Stritzel and jumped under the ball. Prtajin sent his fellow striker Benedict Hollerbach steeply, who kept calm in front of Fraisl and ensured calm in the ranks with the 1:1.
Behind at the break, Koschinat brings 16-year-olds
Bielefeld continued to try, but also dragged through their problems in the end and in the defensive transition game: After Stritzel parried a Klos shot, Consbruch headed the rebound past the empty goal (43.). Wiesbaden countered ice-coldly, in added time in the first half, Hollerbach beat two Arminen far too easily on the left corner of the penalty area, Hüsing deflected his shot from Fraisl – with the 2-1 win in Bielefeld all hopes of a miracle were extinguished.
Koschinat reacted during the break and brought in the only 16-year-old Henrik Koch alongside Silvan Sidler – so in the second half it was more about the future than the present. On the square, the slogan was then to get the matter across the stage sensibly, to continue to counter it, not to go under.
Klos farewell – probably not forever
That worked out well, with an emotional high point in the 81st minute: Klos was substituted and loudly celebrated by the fans. He had already announced after the first-leg disaster that he would not stop like that, but that he would hold his own in the 3rd division if necessary – there was definitely no more good news for Bielefeld in this relegation.