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1. FC Nürnberg – two finals on the abyss – sport

After a 1-1 draw on the last matchday in Kiel, the club must pass the relegation against relegation to the third division. The sporty decline had already started.

Last week Robert Palikuca actually had only one wish: “Hopefully,” said the sports director of 1. FC Nürnberg, it really is the last week of this season. Hopefully, should that mean, this season, which was originally supposed to be a return to the first division, will really end for his club after the 34th matchday. But when the Nuremberg footballers sank to the ground after the 1-1 draw at Holstein Kiel on Sunday, the stunned look in their eyes, they knew that this second division season would actually continue: with two relegation matches against relegation to the third division.

Even before the last game, it had long been impossible to change that the FCN, in its 120th year of existence, played football as weakly as rarely in its history, which fans like to emphasize that it is “glorious” – Nuremberg has won nine times German champions. In recent years, however, this history has been characterized by relegations from the Bundesliga, a total of nine, a record. However, Nuremberg first relegated to the third division in 1996. Now there is another threat. Because Karlsruher SC won 2-1 at Nuremberg arch rival Greuther Fürth, the draw, the 13th of the season, was not enough to prevent the crash from 16th place.

Has Keller’s replacement already been decided?

The afternoon actually started according to plan: While Fürth took the lead after only two minutes, the Nuremberg team met after three minutes: Johannes Geis flanked the ball into the box with a free kick, Patrick Erras jumped the highest and hit the head with a 1-0. It was the best possible constellation, so the lead over the KSC was five points. But the team of coach Jens Keller only seemed to give security in short phases. Most of the time she played similarly to the previous months.

“We see Kiel as an opportunity, an opportunity to bring the whole shit season to an acceptable end with one game,” said captain Hanno Behrens before the game. It was a season in which Palikuca, who had just come from Düsseldorf shortly before relegation to the Bundesliga, dismissed the coach Damir Canadi, who was committed in the summer. In the past week the then reported image-Newspaper that the replacement of Canadi’s successor Keller, regardless of the end of the season, was already decided. Palikuca firmly denied this. But he himself, who has put together the squad with countless additions, is of course also criticized.

Nuremberg misses the chance for the 2-0

Just two weeks ago, it looked as if the individual class would suffice to prevent relegation. Nuremberg beat the direct competitor SV Wehen Wiesbaden 6-0. But the subsequent encounter against VfB Stuttgart was lost 0: 6. And the full meaning of the level of this sobering defeat was only certain on Sunday: There are two goals that Nuremberg are missing for the tied KSC.

In Kiel, the FCN initially had chances for the 2: 0, Geis, the best, was one of the many additions in the summer when he shot a free kick on the crossbar. The 26-year-old, once a U21 international, is one of many footballers in the squad who seem lost in the second division relegation battle. The longer the game lasted, the less Nuremberg’s individualists were the protagonists. The fear of failure seemed to grow all the greater.

Nuremberg initially defended in a concentrated manner, but at some point only deeply. And after the KSC turned the game in Fürth, the equalization fell in Kiel: central defender Asger Sörensen did not really jump up when Lion Lauberbach hit with a header (67.). Like Geis, Sörensen is a summer entry, but most recently it was only used because Dinos Mavropanos was injured, a winter entry borrowed from Arsenal, which had borne Nuremberg’s hopes of a mild season end before the Corona break.

On Sunday he was just sitting on the bench. He saw a dramatic final phase in which Nuremberg attacked the penalty area with passes as wide and high as imprecise. In Mikael Ishak, Adam Zrelak and Fabian Schleusener there were three substitutes on the pitch, but only the defender Sörensen missed a header. Kiel was closer to the winning goal with two post hits after counterattack.

The relegation opponent has not yet been determined

According to the current status, FC Ingolstadt would be the opponent in two relegation matches on July 7th and 11th. The club where Jens Keller was fired last season before relegating to the third division. “It’s not about me, I’m the smallest cog,” the coach had said about the rumors of his replacement. “We wanted to close the sack. Now we have to do a lap of honor,” he said on Sunday. “We have to keep the club in the league, whatever the cost. Today we have to be angry, but we have to prepare for the relegation tomorrow,” said goalkeeper Christian Mathenia. And the sports director Palikuca spoke again about hope. In the cabin he saw no resignation, he said, “but a spirit of optimism for the relegation”. There was still no time for analysis, he had emphasized during the week. There are no pleasant analyzes to be done in Nuremberg. But it is still too early for that.

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