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Table leaders Schalke have the best chance of returning to the Bundesliga
Photo: IMAGO/Oliver Zimmermann / IMAGO/foto2press
On Friday evening, Schalke's top striker Simon Terodde was the winner for an interview on Sky TV.
This time the attacker S04 shot to victory in Sandhausen in the last minute - and thus back to the top of the table in the 2nd Bundesliga.
But Terodde, 27 goals this season, had also lost something: his voice was gone.
In extremely high tones and audibly hoarse, Schalke tried to explain where he left his voice.
Possibly in the fan curve while celebrating, maybe also in the dressing room where he cheered on his teammates.
Terodde isn't just a goalscorer, he's also a driving force, you know that now.
Two days before the end of the season, the fight for promotion could hardly be more exciting: Terodde with Schalke 04, Werder Bremen, SV Darmstadt, Hamburger SV, FC St. Pauli - these are the five candidates who can make it to the top.
And each of them could end up empty-handed.
Two games before the end of the season, we take a look at the five promotion candidates: What speaks for them?
And what about their rise?
SCHALKE 04
That speaks for Schalke 04
Surprise: Whoever leads the table now is also the top favorite for promotion.
Schalke have achieved this with a strong series under Mike Büskens, most recently with a last-minute win at SV Sandhausen, who were one of the best teams in the second half of the season and have already annoyed many top teams.
This success can release energy.
Terodde scores as he wants and he is representative of an offensive that has another goalscorer in Marius Bülter, who is currently in good form.
Schalke's advantage is the attack, but with a solid defense behind it, the balance is also right.
That speaks against Schalke 04
Schalke had won their first five games under Büskens, only to lose 4-1 to Werder Bremen;
in front of a home crowd, with a lot of self-confidence.
So Schalke is not quite as solid as it looks at the moment.
In the next home game, the team meets an opponent in St. Pauli who is in an absolute slump in form (see below), but now also starts with the courage of desperation.
This is going to be awkward.
The end of the season in Nuremberg will also be tough.
One thing is certain: Even for Schalke, a defeat or draw could mean that the team is only in third place and has to be relegated.
Remaining program: 33rd matchday against St. Pauli (home game), 34th matchday against Nuremberg (away game)
SPIEGEL tip: Schalke 04 are promoted directly.
SV Darmstadt
That speaks for Darmstadt
Lost 2:5 against Schalke, 0:1 against Werder, 0:5 against HSV: In the second half of the season, Darmstadt had no chance against the top teams, but over the entire season SVD never allowed themselves a long negative streak.
That's why it's Torsten Lieberknecht's team that currently occupies one of the two places for direct promotion.
With Phillip Tietz (15 goals) and Luca Pfeiffer (16), she has a very balanced strike duo.
Again and again the cohesion of the selection is emphasized, which does not have the
one
star player, who appears very aggressively in the collective, leads many duels and forces the opponent to make mistakes.
That speaks against Darmstadt
Schalke, HSV or Werder are not waiting in the rest of the program, but Fortuna Düsseldorf is.
The opponent may seem a bit inconspicuous with their tenth place, alone: Düsseldorf has never lost in the eleven games under Daniel Thioune and the club is even the second-best team in the second division during this period.
In any case, that is the quality with which Darmstadt had problems in the second half of the season, Darmstadt also make individual mistakes too often.
With 24 goals conceded, the Darmstadt defense is one of the weaker in the second division second half.
Remaining program: Fortuna Düsseldorf (A), SC Paderborn (H)
SPIEGEL tip: Darmstadt is fourth.
WERDER BREMEN
That speaks for Werder Bremen
With 37 goals, Marvin Ducksch and Niclas Füllkrug are the best strike duo in the league, and both are also the most striking proof of the quality of the Bremen squad, which is at least in the top three in the league.
It's hard to imagine that the Bremen team, which has created so many chances to score, will now have serious problems in Aue (already relegated; lost 6-0 in Darmstadt) or on the last matchday at home against Jahn Regensburg (sure of staying in the league). device.
In addition, the overall development under Ole Werner is successful, Werder have scored 37 points in the 17 league games under Werner and thus more than any other team.
That speaks against Werder Bremen
Anyone who leads 2-0 in a game as important as on Friday against Kiel and loses 2-3 in the end can suddenly have doubts.
When Werner took over the Bremen team, it was in the midfield of the league, having been through the vaccination scandal surrounding Markus Beginning.
But under Werner it was always going forward and now, before the 32nd match day, you were at the top.
Werder had something to lose - and Werder lost their lead in the table.
In a SPIEGEL interview at the beginning of the first half of the season, Werner said he still had to find out how his team reacted to setbacks.
In any case, the bankruptcy against Kiel fell into the sort of setback that is harder.
Werner now gets the answer to his question about the most important moment of the season.
Remaining program: Aue (A), Regensburg (H)
SPIEGEL tip: Werder Bremen is promoted directly.
HAMBURGER SV
That speaks for the HSV
When it was said at the beginning of April that the promotion of HSV was already gone, that was solely due to the number of points.
The performances themselves were mostly satisfactory.
Under Tim Walter, HSV exudes enormous dominance, with Sonny Kittel the club probably has the best ball distributor in the league, who is also strong with set pieces.
Walter also has a squad that still has surprises in store at the end of the season and poses new problems for the opponents: In recent weeks, the Finn Anssi Suhonen has become an important part of the Hamburg offensive.
With the best goal difference in the league (+30 goals), HSV also has another pound that can be decisive given the tightness.
That speaks against HSV
Although the Hamburgers have conceded the fewest goals in the league, they sometimes defend too carelessly, so that almost every opponent has great opportunities.
And: Of all the opponents, HSV has to complete the longest target sprint for promotion.
At the beginning of April, HSV was seven points behind third place, the last chance at that time: win all remaining five games and hope for blunders from the competition.
In the meantime, HSV has three wins, and that is also the longest winning streak this season.
The last time HSV was able to win five games in a row was at the beginning of the 2020/2021 season.
Consistency has never been the Nordklub's strength, and even if he wins everything against all odds: HSV still have to make up three points.
Remaining program: Hanover 96 (H), Hansa Rostock (A).
SPIEGEL tip: HSV is third and has to be relegated.
FC St Pauli
That speaks for St. Pauli
In the direct duel against Schalke next Saturday, St. Pauli could get a boost and regain self-confidence with a win.
But you have to be honest: there is not much to say for it.
That speaks against St. Pauli
St. Pauli has not won a game in the second division since mid-March, in the second half of the table the Hamburg team is only 13th with 18 points from 15 games.
That's an amazing drop in performance after 36 first-round points (seven points ahead of a non-promotion spot), but not untypical for St. Pauli, which rarely scores consistently over 34 matchdays.
The weakness on the offensive is particularly noticeable: ball distributor Daniel-Kofi Kyereh was one of the most exciting players of the first half of the season, but after his return from the Africa Cup of Nations and a muscle injury, the offensive player did not manage a single assist.
Guido Burgstaller scored 14 goals in the first half of the season, in 2022 there will only be four, and he will miss the last two games of the season due to injury.
In addition, St. Pauli rarely managed to protect leaders, most recently in the 1-1 draw against Nuremberg.
And, one last point: after the Nuremberg draw, the club reported a corona outbreak, nine players are out for the time being.
Remaining program: Schalke 04 (A), Düsseldorf (H)
SPIEGEL tip: St. Pauli is fifth.
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