Monthly Archives: May 2021

Relegation Play-Off

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1st Leg – Köln 0-1 Holstein Kiel

As the final whistle blew on Matchday 34 in the top two divisions in Germany, it meant the end of an especially tiring season for most teams. However, for a couple of the sides, their most important fixture was still to come – the relegation play-off, to be played across two legs. The tie combines the clubs that finished third from bottom in the top tier and third from top in the second, to play 180 minutes to determine the success of the respective teams’ entire seasons. For the Bundesliga side, a win means pure relief and a chance to build for the next campaign knowing that their top-flight status remains. For the 2. Bundesliga outfit, the pressure is arguably more on their opponents to perform, but with promotion on the line, the incentive for victory is no less. However, history does not look kindly on the second-tier side, and only on six occasions in the past have the promotion-seekers achieved their goal, although the most recent example came just two years ago, when Union Berlin toppled Stuttgart to reach the top league for the first time. Holstein Kiel did not feature in the play-off too long ago themselves, having been beaten by Wolfsburg in the 2017/18 season’s edition of the fixture. This time around though they sought a different outcome.

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Matchday 34

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Featured Game – Union Berlin 2-1 RB Leipzig

Matchday 34 – the final round of fixtures in the Bundesliga and there was still much yet to be decided. There was drama at both ends of the table, with the relegation battle reaching its conclusion, but it was the race for seventh spot that concerned the capital side Union Berlin. Unlike their city rivals Hertha, who only had a late season surge to thank for ensuring their Bundesliga status just last weekend, Union were in search of their first taste of continental football in 20 years and currently resided in the place in the standings allocated for the inaugural Europa Conference League, the new third tier European competition. Nevertheless, the hosts were arguably not favourites to finish in their current spot, with a tough task against second-placed RB Leipzig ahead and Borussia Mönchengladbach, who sat just a point behind Union, ready to take full advantage of any slip-up as they played strugglers Werder.

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Matchday 33

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Featured Game – RB Leipzig 2-2 Wolfsburg

It was the penultimate round of fixtures in the Bundesliga and there was still much to be decided at both ends of the table, however for the visitors to the Red Bull Arena, Wolfsburg, they knew a point would be enough to secure their place alongside their opponents Leipzig in the Champions League next season. The hosts also required a draw top achieve their aim of finishing in second place in the league behind champions Bayern to round off another fantastic campaign. Although, the past week had not been too good to Leipzig in truth, as they saw their slim title hopes evaporated with Bayern’s six-goal thrashing of Mönchengladbach before they lost in the DFB-Pokal final to Borussia Dortmund on Thursday. Coach Julian Nagelsmann would have been especially disappointed about the cup result, as he now will not be able to sign off as the Red Bulls’ manager with silverware before going to München in the summer. Therefore, he would have been particularly eager to make his last home game a memorable one with a win against fellow flyers Wolfsburg.

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Midweek in Gelsenkirchen

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Featured Game – Schalke 1-2 Hertha Berlin

The Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen was the setting on Wednesday evening for a vital game for the visiting club from the German capital. Hertha had needed to make up for a period watching on as a Covid-19 outbreak halted their season. Therefore, this clash away to Schalke was their fourth game in just nine days, but they would have played the same number of matches as everyone else afterwards. In truth, the break in play has done little to hinder Hertha’s of staying up this season and, as other teams have faltered around them, they have taken seven points from their three games after the resumption. Here, they had the chance to improve that to ten from twelve available and with their opponents coming in the form of the league’s poorest performers Schalke, Berlin started out as big favourites.

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Matchday 32

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Featured Game – Borussia Dortmund 3-2 RB Leipzig

After missing out on securing the Bundesliga title last week as they lost at the hands of Mainz, Bayern München would have been raring to go ahead of their clash with Borussia Mönchengladbach. However, kicking off three hours before that game was the one between Dortmund and Leipzig. In an unusual turn of events, Bayern’s normally closest rivals, Dortmund, would actually hand the championship to the Bavarians before they kicked a ball, if the Black-and-Yellows were able to beat second-placed RB Leipzig. It was not as if the hosts at the Signal Iduna park had little to play for either, as a victory would move Dortmund into the final Champions League spot at least until Eintracht Frankfurt played the next day. Some big results of late have seen Dortmund haul themselves back into the top four race that seemed out of their reach merely a couple of months ago, therefore they were not going to go lightly on their opponents, even if they were the Red Bulls.

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Hertha Games in Hand

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Hertha Berlin Games in Hand

After not playing for a couple of weeks due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the Hertha camp, the capital side had slipped down to second bottom in the Bundesliga standings as other teams around them picked up points. However, now it was time for Berlin to try and reduce the deficit as they were back in action in their rescheduled fixtures against Mainz and Freiburg. These games in hand were a real chance for Hertha to turn around what looked a dire situation as they currently sat in the relegation zone, but with three more games still to play on their fellow strugglers at the foot of the table, the reality was that a finish as high as ninth this season was still possible when they kicked off in Mainz. Therefore, points were priceless. Let’s see how they got on.

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