Behind SV Elversberg, four teams with 63 and 62 points respectively are vying for promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga. However, the TSV 1860 is not included.
Munich – The pressure was enormous for VfL Osnabrück, but the purple and whites solved their latecomer task on Monday evening in the style of a top team: 1-0 at the hard-to-grip SC Verl (only nine defeats). So it's clear: The promotion final in the 3rd league will be a real thriller. Elversberg is as good as through, will rise as a champion as things stand.
TSV 1860: Four teams are fighting for promotion – and the lions are watching
The small Freiburgers in second place are not allowed to go up, which results in a thrilling four-way battle for third place (second direct promotion place) and fourth place (relegation). The special thing about the constellation is that three of the four applicants have 63 points, Saarbrücken behind them has one point less. You can't get more exciting than that. Good for the fans. On the other hand, it was bitter for TSV 1860, who had started the season with the goal of being at the top until the end.
The lions are like the contestants of a previous show by Rudi Carrell, where it was said: "That would have been your prize!" The famous dog-in-front of the butcher's shop. It's sad when you have to watch from the outside as the delicacies are distributed behind the windows. To stay with the metaphor: It could have been a little more consistency, then the four-way competition at the front would have turned into a pentathlon. A look at the quartet, which does not have to deal with the lion from Giesing, which is tied up at a safe distance in eighth place - with eleven and ten points less respectively.
Dresden (63 points/3rd place)
It's impressive how Markus Anfang got the Dynamo running after a stuttering start: the best team in the second half of the season, emotional fans behind them – almost 30,000 were in the dreaded Harbig Stadium for the big point game against Wiesbaden. Form and rest of the program speak for the Saxons. The relegated from the second division only has to deal with basement children. On Saturday they go to Zwickau, on Monday to Meppen, before the big promotion party can take place on the last matchday against Oldenburg – perhaps.
+Holzhauser & Co. is left with only the role of spectator in the thrilling finish.
© IMAGO/Ulrich Wagner
Wiesbaden (63/4.)
After the 2-0 win against the Lions in mid-April, the virtual champagne corks were already popping in the Brita Arena. Classic case of "rejoiced too early", because with this game the thread has broken with the Hessians. In Duisburg, it was still enough for a 1-1 draw, but then it became embarrassing: Out of the state cup at Regionalliga club Steinbach, home defeat against Meppen (1-2), followed by the 1-3 in Dresden, which passed wide-legged in the table. Will the third-division dinosaur (1st place in the eternal table) get back on track? Could be difficult against Verl, Elversberg (away) and Halle.
Osnabrück (63/5.)
Things are going well for VfL, who are performing stably under Tobias Schweinsteiger. Most recently: four wins in a row, all with a one-goal difference. 1-0 each against Elversberg, Halle and Verl – in between the crazy 4-3 against Zwickau with a deficit, late lead (86th), even later equaliser (89th) and very late redemption (90th+6). A team can only manage if everything fits, especially the nerves. There is also a lot to be said for the Violets in the finish - they still have to play against Meppen, Cologne (away) and Dortmund II.
Saarbrücken (62/6.)
The Löwen branch from Saarland (Neudecker, Grimaldi, Rabihic) cannot be shaken off. Every now and then it bumps (0:1 in Meppen), but no third division club has won more in the last ten games (seven). FCS have to make up a point, but coming from behind can be an advantage – as can the rest of the programme against Halle, Duisburg (away) and Cologne. (ulk)
