18 teams in the second division will play for this championship cup again next season © Uwe Anspach/dpa
The 2nd Bundesliga starts the new season with the duel between 1. FC Köln and Hamburger SV. Both teams are favorites for promotion, but there is also a lot of competition.
Berlin – The 2nd Bundesliga is celebrating its 50th anniversary. In keeping with the anniversary, more traditional big clubs are playing in the House of Commons than ever before. Two of them, 1. FC Köln and Hamburger SV, will open the 51st season of the 2nd league on Friday (8.30pm/Sat.1 and Sky). They are also expected to fight for the promotion places.
Who are the favorites to promote?
In the seventh attempt, HSV should finally be able to return to the Bundesliga. Although the Hanseatic League missed out on promotion last season, it was able to retain most of the top players. Only Laszlo Benes left the club for Union Berlin in the Bundesliga. Newcomer Davie Selke, who hails from Cologne, is a favourite.
At the same time, the Cologne team has to make sure without serious new arrivals because FIFA has imposed a transfer ban on them. Instead, new coach Gerhard Struber can rely on a number of young talents. The fact that Köln is still considered the favorite is also due to the fact that only a few players have left the relegated Bundesliga team. In addition to Selke, only center fielder Jeff Chabot left Effzeh from the regular staff.
Another relegated team SV Darmstadt is not considered the favourite; coach Thorsten Lieberknecht says he would be happy with 6th place. It is also unclear whether Fortuna Düsseldorf can compete for promotion again. The Fortunes failed in the relegation for promotion and lost their most important player in top scorer Christos Tzolis. Instead, FC Schalke 04, Hertha BSC or Hannover 96 could enter the race for promotion.
Who is good for surprises?
By Miroslav Klose, 1. FC Nürnberg has brought a prominent name into the coaching bench, even if he has little experience there so far. But the former world champion team caused a stir in the preparations: a 3-0 victory against Juventus Turin caused a lot of euphoria in Franconia. After several years in the middle of the gray zone of the league, the “club” may be a little higher up again.
Miroslav Klose could surprise with 1. FC Nürnberg. © Daniel Karmann/dpa
Who are the promoted teams from the 3rd league?
With SSV Ulm, Preußen Münster and Jahn Regensburg, three clubs were promoted from the 3rd league. Ulm and Münster both made it out of the regional league and are entering the league with matching euphoria – especially as both clubs have not been in the second tier for a long time. Ulm has yet to compensate for his lack of experience in the second division in the transfer market – so he is considered a clear outsider at this point.
Where can you watch the 2nd league?
As before, the pay TV channel Sky broadcasts all matches in the 2nd Bundesliga live and also in the conference. The Saturday night games can also be seen on TVfor free on Sport1. The opening match between Köln and HSV is also on free TV on Sat1.
Will the trend in viewership numbers continue?
On the 22nd day of last season, the fans of the second division teams achieved something new: for the first time, more spectators came to the matches in the second division than in the Bundesliga. No wonder, because last season, Schalke, HSV and Kaiserslautern were several spectators with big stadiums that were in the second tier.
This season, 1. FC Köln will be added with a stadium capacity of 50,000, replacing, for example, Holstein Kiel, whose stadium can accommodate around 15,000 people. If Köln continues to fill the stadium regularly even after the relegation, the league could extend its record of more than 29,000 spectators on average from last year. dpa
With over 61,000, Schalke 04 had the highest average attendance of the teams in the second division. © Fabian Strauch/dpa
2024-07-30 23:07:52
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