15 years after being relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga, Rot-Weiss Essen is returning to professional football. The German champions from 1955 defeated West Rot Weiss Ahlen 2-0 (1-0) on the last match day of the regional league, beating Preußen Münster for the title in a long-distance duel. The Bundesliga founding member played 2-1 (0-1) against 1. FC Köln II at the same time. Cedric Harenbrock (29th) and Simon Engelmann (60th) scored the goals for Essen in front of 16,650 spectators on Hafenstrasse, who thanks the better goal difference in front of the pursuer with the same number of points.
In Münster, the hosts fell behind in front of 14,300 spectators through Joshua Schwirten (40th). Thorben Deters (49th) and Marcel Hoffmeier (72nd) turned the game around. Essen was last third tier in 2007/08 when the Regionalliga was still the first tier below the 2nd Bundesliga. The 1953 cup winner played a total of seven years in the Bundesliga, most recently in 1977. Münster, only in the Bundesliga for the first season, was relegated from the 3rd division in 2020.
Third division team 1860 Munich qualifies for the DFB Cup
Third division club TSV 1860 Munich meanwhile recorded a success on the last day of the game despite missing out on promotion. In a fast-paced game, the traditional club achieved fourth place with a fast 6:3 (2:2) against Borussia Dortmund II and thus qualified for the financially lucrative DFB Cup. The team was led by Marcel Bär, who scored twice (21st and 59th minutes). Bär was the league’s top scorer with 21 goals.
On the other hand, promoted Viktoria Berlin was relegated from the third football floor to the regional league on Saturday. The capital club – at the beginning of the season briefly top of the table – lost on the 38th and final match day 3:4 (0:0) against SV Meppen. The Würzburger Kickers and TSV Havelse had previously been relegated. Türkgücü Munich was eliminated from the game during the season for economic reasons, all games were removed from the rating.
Relegation rank three is occupied by the four-time German champions 1. FC Kaiserslautern, who have home rights in the relegation first leg to the 2nd division on May 20 (8:30 p.m. / Sky and Sat.1) against Dynamo Dresden, third from bottom in the second division. The second leg in Saxony will take place on May 24th (8.30 p.m. / Sky and Sat.1).