Bundesliga relegation
“It hurts”: From the HSV promotion dream, VfB remains in the first division
VfB Stuttgart celebrates victory over HSV in front of its fans. photo
© Christian Charisius/dpa
Hamburger SV scored the early goal they had hoped for in the second leg of the relegation. But is that enough for the football miracle to rise? VfB Stuttgart is fighting back – and it’s getting heated.
HSV coach Tim Walter stood alone for a moment behind his dejected pros on the pitch as thousands of Hamburg fans celebrated their team despite the bitter relegation evening.
Just a few meters away, the VfB Stuttgart players were celebrating their relegation. The Hamburg football miracle so longed for in the Hanseatic city clearly did not happen. After the 1:3 (1:0) in the second leg, HSV has to go into its sixth season in the 2nd division.
“It’s really a brutal disappointment. You can see how big the club is. Today the pain is there,” said HSV goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes on Sky. “It just hurts.” The whole city “believed in it, you could tell from the first second”.
“Relieved and Overjoyed”
Sonny Kittel (6th minute) gave Hamburg an early lead in front of 55,500 spectators. But Enzo Millot (48′ and 64′) turned the game around in the second half, his second goal thanks to a fatal mistake by Heuer Fernandes. Silas Katompa Mvumpa (90+7) also scored. HSV lost the first leg last Thursday 3-0.
VfB celebrated relegation after a very mixed season. “We are relieved and overjoyed,” said sports director Fabian Wohlgemuth on Sky. Borna Sosa said: “I think we deserve it.”
Much had been said about the supposed magic of the Volksparkstadion, in which the Hamburgers had not lost for over seven months. “There are always miracles,” sporting director Jonas Boldt said shortly before the kick-off at Sky. And then came Kittel. The 30-year-old shot the ball into the goal from a good 25 meters, tens of thousands of HSV fans cheered, coach Tim Walter roared his joy.
More than Kittel’s lucky shot did not succeed
How fragile Hamburg’s luck was, however, was shown almost immediately afterwards when Chris Führich, who was strong in the first leg, only hit the side netting (7′). And much more when Serhou Guirassy artistically scored the supposed equalizer from the turn (17th). However, the goal did not count due to a previous offside position on the halfway line.
The Bundesliga club did not appear as confident in this phase as in the first leg. The selection of coach Sebastian Hoeneß, who had expressly warned about the atmosphere, remained dangerous. HSV goalkeeper Heuer Fernandes, who had prevented worse things for Hamburg in the first leg, saved twice within a few seconds from the rushing Stuttgart team (23rd/24th).
Apart from wobbles that initially had no consequences, HSV presented themselves significantly better in the duels than last Thursday. For the sick Jonas David, Walter had sent the loan player Javi Montero into the defensive game. Jean-Luc Dompé and Kittel, in particular, tried offensively to create a goal threat with speed.
At VfB, Florian Müller again guarded the goal instead of Fabian Bredlow, who was still ailing. After conceding an early goal, the 25-year-old excelled in a Bakery Jatta header before the break, but by then the first-half was already over. Robert Glatzel’s promising powerful shot went wide of the VfB goal without any action on the part of Müller (40′).
VfB doesn’t let anything burn
HSV celebrated its biggest home win against Stuttgart in October 2019. In the second division 6: 2, which would have been enough for promotion, Walter was still a VfB coach. As Hamburg coach, he watched the game of his oldest HSV starting eleven, who was 27.4 years old on average, even more intently after the equalizing goal. Millot scored from Guirassy and rewarded VfB for the significantly better start to the second half.
HSV now needed three goals again to at least force extra time. It was noticeably quieter in the stadium during this phase, and the 6,000 or so VfB fans who had traveled with us could be heard much better.
The Stuttgart pros acted more compactly in the minutes that followed, always waiting for the next counterattack. When Heuer Fernandes made a bad pass with Millot’s second goal, the game finally went against Hamburg. After the VfB pros cheered in front of the HSV fans and the pack formed, referee Bastian Dankert handed out several yellow cards. Glatzel then had Hamburg’s best chance of the second half (74′). But nothing changed at the end of the relegation.