The Baltic Sea derby between Holstein Kiel and Hansa Rostock will be groundbreaking – for both clubs. The home side are dreaming of the first Bundesliga promotion in their history. The guests are trying to avoid the nightmare of relegation to the 2nd division.
Kiel is currently five points ahead of third-placed HSV – with eight games left: “We want to defend our place with all our might,” said coach Marcel Rapp in the “kicker” and confidently added with a view to the final spurt: “We won’t in understatement, because we already know what we can do.”
Rapp has no time for relegation
However, it is not the first time that Kiel has done so well at this point in the season. Under Rapp’s predecessors Markus beginning and Ole Werner, the KSV was also at the top until the end – but had to go into relegation and failed there. This time, relegation is out of the question. Rapp’s simple explanation – he doesn’t have any time: “My daughter is celebrating communion that weekend.”
Kiel favored, Hansa also with self-confidence
If you use the first leg as a comparison, it looks good for Kiel to celebrate their 16th win of the season against Hansa: At the end of October, the Holsteiners won 3-1 in the Ostseestadion. And even though coach Mersad Selimbegovic was not yet in office at Rostock, he knows: “Kiel has a very good team. They have playful qualities and also bring physicality. It will be a brutal task.”
There is currently “a great euphoria” in Kiel and he also enjoys watching the “Storks” play, said the Hansa coach.
However, the Mecklenburgers also went into the international break with new self-confidence. Thanks to the 1-0 win against their direct rivals in Braunschweig and the 1-0 win at home against Fürth, Hansa is not in a direct relegation zone, but in the relegation zone. Selimbegovic therefore emphasizes: “The people of Kiel do many things very well. But we also have a few things that we do well.”
Selimbegovic: Having “a little more fun” than Kiel
However, his team didn’t put their feet up during the break. The situation is far too serious for that. The 41-year-old emphasized that the training had been “proper,” but he also used the break to recharge his batteries before the final sprint. “I also had a little time for the family. They were able to get to know this wonderful city.”
Naturally there is no time for sightseeing in Kiel. However, Selimbegovic hopes that his team will still have “a little more fun” than their opponents. If things go badly, Hansa could slip back to 17th place.
Rapp: “Don’t talk, just act”
Colleague Rapp wants to hold back on declaring war. However, the 44-year-old emphasized that he would not sign a guarantee for third place in the promotion relegation zone – and he also does not want to take part in arithmetic games. “We’ve done well so far by saying: We want to act and not talk so much about what could be.”
Possible lineups
Holstein Kiel: Weiner – Becker, Erras, Johansson, Komenda – Sander – Porath, Holtby – Skrzybski – Machino, Bernhardsson
Hansa Rostock: Kolke – van der Werff, Roßbach, Stafylidis – Neidhart, Dressel, Rhein, Schumacher – Pröger, Ingelsson – Junior Brumado
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The NDR 2 Bundesliga show | March 30, 2024 | 13:00 ‘O clock