Bundesliga
The relegation matchday: Quartet in direct duels
VfL Bochum and 1. FC Köln meet in a relegation battle. photo
© Bernd Thissen/dpa/Archive
What a constellation in the Bundesliga: the last at 16th in the table, the penultimate at home against the 15th in the table. And the relegation worries come into play.
Thomas Kessler used perhaps the decisive word for the fight against relegation from the Football Bundesliga. “Basically you need a tolerance for frustration,” said the head of the licensed player department at 1. FC Köln.
The Cologne team doesn’t just need “frustration tolerance” against VfL Bochum this Saturday (3:30 p.m./Sky) and a match day that can be groundbreaking for all four teams involved to stay in the top German league. Parallel to the duel between second-to-last Cologne and Bochum, who are in 15th place, 16th 1. FSV Mainz 05 is hosting bottom-of-the-table SV Darmstadt 98.
It’s about nothing less than first-class quality. Above all, it’s about a lot of money and the question of what happens if things don’t go well. There are plenty of negative examples of traditional clubs that have fallen into disrepair – from Hamburger SV to Hertha BSC to FC Schalke 04.
The Cologne team also has a transfer ban with them. UEFA’s sanction following a dispute with Slovenian club Olimpija Ljubljana will only end when the transfer window opens in January 2025. Cologne will not be allowed to sign any players this summer.
Cologne between gloomy forecasts and assurances
After all, apart from two players in the current squad, according to sports director Christian Keller, all of them have valid contracts for the 2nd league. According to “Sport Bild”, instead of 45 million euros for the professionals to stay in the class, only 25 million would be available. In the event of relegation, is Cologne in danger of becoming the second Schalke, which is currently fighting against slipping into the third division and against financial hardship?
Keller already assured last autumn: “Even if we were relegated, we would now achieve a balanced result. We could survive a second division year without being in the red because we have already changed a lot.”
In addition, the Cologne team has a certain routine; FC has always been able to quickly repair the previous six relegations: the club was promoted straight back four times, twice in the second year.
Losses in the event of relegation would also hurt Mainz
Nevertheless, going into the second division is always associated with deep cuts. Berlin’s Hertha felt this again last summer. HSV is now in its sixth year in the second division.
“A loss of fifty percent in our largest source of income would of course hurt us,” said Mainz sports director Christian Heidel to the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” with a view to the FSV’s income from the German Football League’s media revenue. If it doesn’t work out to stay in the first division, it would be Mainz’s first relegation since 2007. “If the team stayed together after relegation, the salary costs would be reduced by more than half,” explained Heidel.
Who is cheering, who is mourning, who can still hope?
Before the 28th matchday, Mainz occupied the relegation place with 20 points. The guests from Bochum have 26 points and could possibly climb up from 15th place with a win, but in any case they could further expand their lead over Mainz and possibly also over Cologne and/or Darmstadt. Cologne have 19 points, Darmstadt 14. For the Hessians, the relegation duel could possibly be what feels like their last chance to at least get closer to the relegation place in the first season after returning to the Bundesliga.
“We still absolutely believe in staying in the league. Accordingly, we will only comment specifically on the sporting and economic consequences of relegation if this case actually occurs,” emphasized Darmstadt’s President Rüdiger Fritsch: “In principle, I can say that we are an economically stable club that is aware that Bundesliga football is anything but a given in Darmstadt and is accordingly prepared for various scenarios.”
Instead of four wins, the Bochum, Mainz, Cologne, Darmstadt quartet will say: two lose, one can still hope for relegation by around 5:30 p.m. on May 18th at the latest after the final whistle of the 34th and final matchday.
If the Cologne team manages to do so, they might have to play against their neighbors Fortuna Düsseldorf in the two games. Or against ex-coach Steffen Baumgart with HSV. And then they should hope that they don’t need frustration tolerance.