The situation is clear: Fortuna Düsseldorf is in charge of reaching relegation place 16, while Werder Bremen has to hope for the Fortunes to slip at Union Berlin in the remote duel. The current facts before the relegation drama.
By Jens Mickler
Starting position
A victory for Fortuna Düsseldorf in Berlin, and everything would be settled, because the Fortunes are two points ahead in this struggle for 16th place. If Fortuna does not win, it could be tricky. In a tie at Union, Bremen would have to win at least four goals against 1. FC Köln to reach the relegation. In the event of a defeat in Düsseldorf, a narrow victory would also suffice for Werder.
Personal
Werder Bremen is worried about the use of Milot Rashica before the relegation duel against 1. FC Köln. The striker sustained an ankle injury during training on Wednesday (June 24, 2020). “We have to wait and see,” said Werder coach Florian Kohfeldt. An alternative is definitely the long-injured striker Niclas Füllkrug, who played against Mainz for the first time after a full halftime after his cruciate ligament rupture and two short missions.
Bremen against Cologne against Kevin Vogt is again available. The defensive player has cured his hip injury. Theodor Gebre Selassie is fit again in good time. For Sebastian Langkamp (strain) Ömer Toprak is in the squad.
At Fortuna Düsseldorf, all regular players are fit. It is possible that Vice Captain Adam Bodzek is not in the starting XI. Alternatives would be Marcel Sobottka or Alfredo Morales. Steven Skrzybski will probably sit on the bench for the time being.
Trainer voices
Düsseldorf coach Uwe Rösler swore in the team and the environment with pithy words on the day of the decision. “We have our own destiny in our own hands. We are concerned with a great deal, and you have to feel that,” said Rösler. Of course, the game at Union Berlin was “final”: “You can’t make up for it afterwards. We have to deliver.” Mental and physical freshness are important on Saturday.
Werder coach Kohfeldt expressed himself with even more robust sentences with a view to the last game of the season. “It only applies: ‘knife between the teeth and out there,'” said Kohfeldt on Friday. He does not doubt the necessary motivation of his protégés: “I am sure that everyone has the necessary attitude and also the necessary character.” Previously, Kohfeldt had described the chances of his team as not very high. “It is very difficult to maintain relegation through relegation,” said the Bremen native.
Form
Werder may have gambled away the relegation with the two most recent defeats against Bayern and especially on the previous day at Mainz 05. The record of the last ten games is somewhat better for Werder (11 points) than for Fortuna (9 points).
The Düsseldorf team go to Union with two draws (against Leipzig and Augsburg). Above all, the late compensation in Leipzig strengthened the belief in one’s own ability.
Mood
The consequences of a possible descent are already being discussed in Bremen. Former goalkeeper Frank Rost considers personnel consequences in the event of relegation unavoidable. “I think then you have to clear the way,” said Rost at NDR2. “Not only in the coaching position. I think then one or the other on the board may have to say: ‘It shouldn’t be and boom – and then we’ll step back.'”
Former Werder manager Klaus Allofs criticized Bremen’s personnel planning this week. He would not have made an “early and irrefutable” decision on the coach Florian Kohfeldt to remain until the end of the season, said Allofs, who considers a forecast for Saturday almost “impossible”. But he is certain that a descent would hit Werder harder than the Rhinelander. The Fortuna would not be unexpectedly hit by fate, Allofs said, but relegation would be a “bitter” as well as an “unnecessary” setback.
Relegation history
Fortuna Dusseldorf has already relegated from the Bundesliga five times – in 1967, 1987, 1992, 1997 and 2013. The last relegation to date is a bitter memory. In 1899, Hoffenheim had two points and eleven goals behind the Fortuna on the last matchday, which went into the final sprint in 15th place. But then Hoffenheim won with runner-up Dortmund, Düsseldorf lost 0-3 in Hanover at the same time – and still fell to 17th place. It was the first and only time in the entire season that the Düsseldorfers were on a direct relegation zone.
The only Werder relegation from the Bundesliga was exactly 40 years ago. On May 24, 1980, a depressing 0: 5 home defeat against 1. FC Köln and opponents on Saturday sealed the first knock-out of the club’s history. At that time there were only 17,000 spectators in the Weser Stadium.
Those: sportschau.de
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