As of: May 8, 2024 9:09 a.m
VfL Osnabrück has been relegated early from the 2nd Bundesliga. In the game on the third-to-last match day, which was moved to FC St. Pauli’s Millerntor, the traditional Lower Saxony club lost 0:4 (0:2) to FC Schalke 04 in front of empty stands on Tuesday evening.
You can hardly go down in a much more dreary setting: at 8:25 p.m. the final whistle in the empty Millerntorstadion of FC St. Pauli, to which VfL Osnabrück had moved due to defects in the roof construction of its Bremer Brücke stadium, sealed the premature death for the purple-whites , direct return to the third division. After the defeat on matchday 32, VfL coach Uwe Koschinat’s team is seven points behind SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the relegation zone. A maximum of six points are still up for grabs in the remaining two games.
Koschinat: “There are no right words in such a situation”
“We had no chance from the start and reached our limits in many phases. The result is totally sobering,” said VfL coach Uwe Koschinat to NDR. “Now the fate of relegation is finally certain and there is dejection. We fought back often enough, but we also suffered setbacks again and again. There are no right words in such a situation.”
AUDIO: VfL goalkeeper Kühn after relegation: “S… sad” (3 min)
“It’s a brutal emptiness,” said VfL goalkeeper Philipp Kühn. “It hurts incredibly, I’m sorry for the people, for the fans. You’re just really sad when you’re relegated. And then alone, having to play away at a home game – that’s obviously brutal. We have Unfortunately we couldn’t make it.”
Further information
Will Kiel and St. Pauli move up? Will HSV make it into relegation? Who is relegated? News and background information about the end of the second division season in the live blog at >. more
The penultimate matchday takes VfL to the Millerntor again, of all places. The guest game at FC St. Pauli is on Sunday (1:30 p.m., in the live center at >) – but then in front of full stands.
0:2 at Millerntor after five minutes
In the ghost game on Tuesday evening, there were quickly signs that the Osnabrück team would be relegated early: after five minutes, goals from Keke Topp (2nd) and Kenan Karaman (5th) made it 2-0 for the “Royal Blues”, which was still scored by Assan Ouedraogo (65th) and Topp (75th) increased the lead to 4-0 and celebrated staying in the league after the final whistle. There was deep sadness among the purple and white people.
“Disappointment will quickly give way to a spirit of optimism.”
Michael Welling, commercial director at VfL
“Even if you had to deal with the idea for some time due to the way the season went, relegation is always painful, it hurts incredibly, you can’t prepare for that emotionally,” said commercial director Michael Welling. “But I am convinced that the disappointment will quickly give way to a spirit of optimism.”
Sporting director Philipp Kaufmann said: “We can get to the point in terms of sport. Despite a clearly positive development since the winter break, we have not managed to make up for the big deficit from the first half of the season with just nine points. Everyone is hugely disappointed. “
AUDIO: Defeat against Schalke: VfL Osnabrück’s eighth relegation sealed (2 min)
Disillusionment quickly follows the euphoria of advancement
Osnabrück has to leave the Bundesliga lower house after just one season – it was a season full of bankruptcies, bad luck and mishaps.
As great was the euphoria at the Bremer Brücke after the promotion at the very last second in the third division season finale against Borussia Dortmund’s U23s, the disillusionment in the “purple and white” camp was just as great shortly after the start of the second division series. It quickly became clear that the squad was not well enough staffed either at the top or across the board. Five of the first six games were lost. This was followed by a surprising 2-1 win against Hamburger SV. However, the coup against the promotion candidate did not bring about the hoped-for turnaround.
Further information
Eintracht Braunschweig and Hansa Rostock are at the bottom, VfL Osnabrück was relegated early. The remaining program of the relegation candidates at a glance. more
In the following six matches, VfL failed to achieve another victory. After the 2:3 defeat on matchday 13 at the previous bottom club Eintracht Braunschweig, the promotion coach Tobias Schweinsteiger, who was very popular with the fans, was fired. Sports director Amir Shapourzadeh, who was largely responsible for putting together the squad, remained in office. Since February, however, the German-Iranian has only been supporting the club in an advisory capacity. The new managing director of sports, Philipp Kaufmann, has now taken over his duties.
Top performers are hard to keep
A lot of work now awaits the Swiss after his relegation has been confirmed. He will have to push for a reconstruction of the Bremer Bridge. Some top performers such as striker Erik Engelhardt or right winger Christian Conteh (said to be about to move to Schalke 04) are unlikely to be retained. VfL will probably want to separate itself from other players who were not able to meet expectations this season.
Coach Koschinat stays
At least there is clarity on the coaching question: Uwe Koschinat will also look after the team in the third division. The contract with the 52-year-old was extended independently of the league before the relegation was confirmed. The Koblenz native stabilized Lower Saxony after taking office at the end of November last year. Ultimately, however, a points average of 1.06 was not enough to create a miracle from the Bremen Bridge.
VIDEO: The myth of the Bremen Bridge – 125 years of VfL Osnabrück (30 min)
Matchday 32, May 7th, 2024 6:30 p.m
VfL Osnabrück
0
FC Schalke 04
4
Tore:
VfL Osnabrück:
Kühn – Ajdini, Gyamfi, Wiemann, Kleinhansl – Gnaase, Cuisance (46. C. Conteh), Androutsos (46. Tesche) – Niemann (71. Wriedt), E. Engelhardt (71. Lobinger), Makridis (80. Wulff)
FC Schalke 04:
M. Muller – From the Castle (88. Matriciani), Kalas (78. Cissé), M. Kaminski, Ouwejan (87. Tempelmann) – Kabadayi (64. Mohr), Schallenberg, Karaman (46. Ouédraogo), Seguin – Terodde , Topp
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Further information
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NDR 2 Sport | May 7, 2024 | 11:03 p.m