The lion ascent check: One of the four top clubs is thinking of a pink elephant ...

Ex-Leo Bernhard Trares is an expert when it comes to advancement.

So it makes sense to ask him: Who will prevail in the exciting battle for promotion in the 3rd division?

The Lions want to go where he comes from: Bernhard Trares was head coach at the second division Kickers Würzburg for five months (until April 1), but the former 1860 professional is also very familiar with the third division.

As a player, the 55-year-old made it through with the Löwen from the Bayern to the Bundesliga (1992 to 1994)

"Had Corona not come, we would have been promoted with Mannheim", Trares looks back on the unfortunate end of his most successful coaching station to date (in January 2018 he took over SV Waldhof in the regional league and moved it into the third division a year later).

We asked the 55-year-old for a professional assessment of the four aspiring advancement - and for subjective tips on how things could go in the nerve-wracking final spurt.

• Ex-lion Trares typed the final spurt in the promotion battle

• Hansa Rostock

  (34 games, 65 points)

• FC Ingolstadt (H) 2-1

• FSV Zwickau (H) 2-0

• SpVgg U'haching (A) 1: 1

• VfB Lübeck (H) 3-0

• Final result:

  75 points, 57:33 goals (+24)

• FC Ingolstadt

  (34 games, 63 points)

• Hansa Rostock (A) 1: 2

• 1. FC Saarbrücken (H) 2-2

• MSV Duisburg (A) 0: 1

• TSV 1860 (H) 2: 2

• Final result:

  65 points, 52:44 goals (+8)

• TSV 1860

  (34 games, 61 points)

• Kaiserslautern (H) 2: 1        

• Wehen Wiesbaden (A) 1: 1

• FC Bayern II (H) 3-0

• FC Ingolstadt (A) 2-2

• Final result:

  69 points, 70:33 goals (+37)

• Dynamo Dresden

  (32 games, 59 points)

• MSV Duisburg (H) 1: 1

• KFC Uerdingen (A) 2: 2

• SC Verl (A) 1-0

• Viktoria Cologne (H) 0: 1

• Türkgücü (H) 3: 2        

• Wehen Wiesbaden (A) 1: 1

• Final result:

  68 points, 59:36 goals (+23)

• Top of the table

  (according to the Trares forecast)

• 1. Hansa Rostock 38 57:33 75     

• 2. TSV 1860 38 70:33 69

• 3rd Dyn. Dresden 38 59:36 68

• 4. FC Ingolstadt 38 52:44 65

• Would mean:

  Rostock and 1860 rise directly, Dresden must be relegated.

Hansa Rostock (34 games, 65 points)

The club from the Baltic Sea is rightly at the top for Trares - and it will no longer allow itself to be pushed out of its place in the sun.

Also because Trares believes in coach Jens Härtel, who moved into the 2nd division with Magdeburg in 2018.

"He brought his old boys back together", says Trares: "Many with whom he has already climbed up." Among others Löhmannsröben, Farrona Pulido, Türpitz.

Trares' assessment from afar: “They are very clear, very snappy - and they also rise.

They don't look to the right, not to the left - they just go straight through and do it. "

FC Ingolstadt 04 (34 games, 63 points)

Trares has no good memories of the FCI: “Last year, when we were there with Mannheim, one thing or the other didn't go very well: Got a 911 that wasn't one. Made a goal that didn't count. But: It's over now. ”So it shouldn't sound like revenge when Trares predicts a similar misfortune for the Audi Club on the ascent's home straight. The main topic, says Trares, will be last year's failure in the relegation against Nuremberg. “I think that's still in their heads,” he says: “When you say: We don't want to be third, we don't want to be third. Then of course you come in third. Like the pink elephant. If you say to yourself: Don't think about a pink elephant now - then you have it in front of your eyes. ”But Trares doesn't sound too enthusiastic either,when he talks about the functional football of the Tomas Oral brand: “They do not claim to play beautiful football, they play pure result football - but they do that quite well. You hit long balls and are ready to defend with ten men. That is their strategy. "

TSV 1860 (34 games, 61 points)

For Trares it is clear: his ex-club is taking advantage of the opportunity that has arisen from the hunter role and the recent positive tailwind.

“The way they worked their way forward in 1860, how they perform, that's all very gratifying,” he says: “You have created a good starting position - and you have the momentum.

In 1860 no one had on the bill.

That's why they're the loosest of all.

Officially, they didn't want to attack and rise until next year.

If it works this year, so much the better - I don't wish any more clubs. "

Dynamo Dresden (32 games, 59 points)

Trares does not want to reveal whether he was also in the raffle at Dynamo. In any case, the fact is that he still has the Saxons on the bill - despite or because of the coach change that was carried out after the 0: 3 against Halle. “Most of the time something like that triggers a surge,” Trares knows. "You shouldn't forget: Dresden has two games less." Quality was already there at last year's second division. So much for overcoming the current crisis: “Every team falls into a hole, even Bayern in the Bundesliga. The pressure is increasing now, of course, especially at a traditional club that was only relegated from the second division last year. "But, says Trares:" They still have six games, that's enough for them. "