Cologne (SID) – The relegation battle in the Bundesliga is approaching its climax. Schalke has been relegated, Mainz is almost saved – but in between two game days before the end, five clubs are fighting for survival. Above all, 1. FC Köln have their backs to the wall, in the worst case scenario, relegation will be sealed on Saturday. FC Augsburg welcomes their direct competitor Werder Bremen. – This is the situation on the edge:
FSV MAINZ 05 (12th place / 36 points / 35: 51 goals):
The culmination of the impressive race to catch up under coach Bo Svensson seems only a matter of form for FSV Mainz 05. With one point against Borussia Dortmund on Sunday, the Rheinhessen can remove the last doubts on their own, if the competition fails, the rescue would possibly be perfect on Saturday.
Svensson wants to “watch the conference in the hotel” together with the team. There are “a few scenarios in which it can turn out positively for us. If they happen, we would celebrate a little,” said the Dane: “Then we would have done something brutal.”
HERTHA BSC (13./34/40:50):
Pal Dardai can’t forbid his team to look at the table. But the Berlin coach doesn’t want to show off the good starting position either. In the end, nothing changes in the approach to the first “match ball”. “We always play to win,” said Dardai: “We don’t want to draw, even if we know that one point could be enough.”
Seven games without a defeat make it possible that Hertha BSC is almost saved. The staff worries, however, depress the mood. After various failures and suspensions, home grown Jessic Ngankam, who won the 2-1 win at Schalke, is just as questionable as Rio world champion Sami Khedira.
FC AUGSBURG (14./33/32:49):
After the unsuccessful debut of returnees Markus Weinzierl (1: 2 in Stuttgart), the pressure on the FCA has increased again. It was not for nothing that the coach spoke of “two finals” before the games against Werder Bremen and at champions Bayern Munich.
But the Augsburgers see themselves armed for the fight to stay in the league. The improved performance at VfB gave hope. “We have to continue like this, then we will be rewarded in the end,” said manager Stefan Reuter.
WERDER BREMEN (15./31/34:51):
Despite all the explosiveness in the table cellar, coach Florian Kohfeldt never tires of pointing out the significant difference to the previous year. “If we win both games, we’ll be through. We have it in our own hands, that gives you a different feeling,” said the coach before the game at table neighbors FC Augsburg.
In 2020, the Hanseatic League had only secured relegation in relegation and was dependent on help in the fight against direct relegation. In retrospect, Kohfeldt said: “These are empirical values that one actually likes to do without.”
ARMINIA BIELEFELD (16./31/23:51):
Fabian Klos has already calculated. “Two draws will not be enough,” said the captain of East Westphalia with a view to the encounters against TSG Hoffenheim and VfB Stuttgart.
A small advantage for the Bielefeld company could be the psychological aspect. It was already clear before the season that the promoted team would have to fight to stay up until the last match day. Unlike many other competitors, the team was aware of this. “Pretty much everyone guessed that we were relegated two game days before the end. Now we want to make the big dream a reality,” said sports director Samir Arabi on Friday.
1. FC COLOGNE (17./29/33:60):
The Rhinelander have clarified the coaching question for the future by signing Steffen Baumgart. But the seventh relegation in the club’s history from the Bundesliga is already threatened on Saturday. In the event of a defeat at Hertha BSC and wins by rivals Bielefeld and Bremen, FC could no longer be saved. “I am convinced that we will still have the opportunity to stay in the Bundesliga on matchday 34,” said coach Friedhelm Funkel.
SCHALKE 04 (18./13/21:82):
Dimitrios Grammozis continues to assume that as a coach he will be able to tackle the company resurgence in the next season. The latest status is that “they are planning the second division together,” emphasized the fifth Schalke coach of the season.
His record hardly differs from that of his predecessors: one win, one draw, seven defeats. The next one could be added against Eintracht Frankfurt. Then it would also be clear that Schalke is the worst relegated since the introduction of the three-point rule in 1995.
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