Haching coach Claus Schromm: "It feels like the start of the season."

The ball finally rolls again. To restart the third division after a twelve-week Corona break, the SpVgg Unterhaching has to go to the penultimate table SG Sonnenhof Großaspach this Saturday (2 p.m.). How the clubs do sports after a long break is completely open. The Hachingers are well prepared. And there is no doubt: In the next five weeks with the eleven games remaining, it will be about promotion to the second division.

Unterhaching– Where do you stand? This question arises before every first game of the season. And somehow it is a season of its own, which now begins on match day 28. "It feels like the start of the season," says Haching's coach Claus Schromm, "and we actually always got in well. We are especially happy that things are starting again and we feel well prepared. ”The rest of the season, which is due to be completed by July 4th, comes like a tournament mode. If everything goes well, the SpVgg can then celebrate the climb. Or has to play relegation games as an encore. It has been clear for years that every third division club has to move up to the second division for financial reasons alone to ensure their survival in the long term. The situation was exacerbated by the corona crisis with the now standard ghost games without spectators and thus without important income. It will be a beating and stabbing among no fewer than eleven of the 20 clubs that still have realistic chances of promotion. The 11th Uerdingen is only five points behind the second Mannheim.

The Hachinger have an optimal starting position as third. The guest appearance at the penultimate Großaspach at the start, which, like tail light Jena, is far behind the saving bank and is considered one of the clearest relegation candidates, seems to be just right. Especially since Schromm no longer has a home advantage on the home stretch of the season without spectators in the stadiums. However, the opponents are more difficult to assess than ever. Since Großaspach was able to complete two weeks of team training, the preparation for the first match, like the SpVgg, was quite comfortable. "There is certainly no disadvantage on Saturday," believes Haching's head coach.

However, what the facts about the previous sporting career are worth is open. The penultimate table got a new boss at the end of February in coach veteran Hans-Jürgen Boyen. He only looked after the team for two games, but still got a home win over Halle. One of only five threes in 27 games this season, only the second at home. Großaspach has the weakest attack in the league with 23 goals, the second worst defense record with 52 goals, is extremely weak at home and beset by injury worries. After taking office, Boysen could now work extensively on how this could improve in the final sprint.

"Without a doubt, it will be a tough task to survive the first 90 minutes of competition after such a long break," said Großaspach's head coach before the game. “With Unterhaching, we also meet a real top-class athlete who has tremendous quality and has justified hopes for advancement. But we don't have time to find our rhythm over several games. ”Colleague Claus Schromm also knows about the precarious situation of the hosts:“ With a look at the table, Großaspach has a duty, they definitely want to score three times. A difficult piece of work awaits us. But it certainly suits us that Großaspach has to score points. "

SpVgg: Mantl - Schwabl, Stahl, Greger, Winkler - Stierlin, Fuchs - J. Müller, Heinrich - Hain, Schröter.