Enlarge image
An unusual picture: cheering Hamburgers at the end of the season
Photo: IMAGO/Michael Taeger / IMAGO/Jan Huebner
Non-traditional club:
Christian Titz, Hannes Wolf, Dieter Hecking, Daniel Thioune and Horst Hrubesch.
No matter what the Hamburg coach was called after being relegated to the Bundesliga in 2018, at the end of the season he always finished fourth in three seasons.
It looked like this for 75 minutes in the fourth year, then the captain scored.
Tim Walter can now become the first HSV promotion coach.
Result:
Werder Bremen is second promoted after Schalke 04, HSV meets Hertha BSC in the relegation.
Here are the match reports.
Starting position:
After the 33rd match day, Werder were in second place (60 points, goal difference +20), HSV on the relegation place (57 points, +31), Darmstadt was fourth (57 points, +22).
One point against Regensburg was enough for Bremen to return to the Bundesliga, Hamburg would certainly be in the relegation with a win in Rostock, and if Werder also lost, they would even be in the first division.
But Darmstadt also had chances of direct promotion.
Prerequisite: a personal win when Werder and HSV went bankrupt.
Understood?
Then into the 90 minutes.
Darmstadt shows:
Less than 120 seconds were played before the promotion race picked up speed.
Darmstadt's Tim Skarke gave his team the lead with a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area (2nd minute).
This also caused the first change at the top: Darmstadt was now third in the virtual table, HSV only fourth.
Cheering in green and white:
A point against Regensburg?
Werder should be able to do that.
But what capers a last match day can offer, you could only find out the day before.
Niclas Füllkrug quickly took the huge pressure off the game by hitting the inside post to give Bremen the lead (10').
And what did HSV do?
Panic in Rostock:
Hansa has only had four wins at home this season, but the start was tough.
Lukas Fröde hit the crossbar with his head (2nd).
HSV then took control, but conceded the 0:1 through Nico Neidhardt (13th).
Should the Hamburgers mess it up again on the last day of the game?
Darmstadt follows up:
The good news from Rostock got even better with their own performance.
Luca Pfeiffer made it 2-0 (25th) and 3-0 (38th) against Paderborn.
The homework was done, the ball was now in the hands of the competition.
Breathing after 45 minutes:
At half-time Werder was promoted, Darmstadt in the relegation and HSV only fourth.
Werder nailed it:
Marvin Ducksch, who was the assist when it came to the opening goal, did it himself this time. His 2-0 lead in the 51st minute came at just the right time, Regensburg appeared dangerously in front of the Bremen goal several times at the start of the second half.
HSV is back:
Only one goal was missing for relegation - Robin Glatzel's goal, his 21st this season, made it 1-1 in Rostock (50th).
Less than three minutes later, HSV goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes prevented Rostock from taking the lead again.
Tension at the limit on the pitch and in the stands.
HSV with the big point (and another one):
Hamburg still had 15 minutes to leave fourth place.
Opportunities?
none.
But then Ludovit Reis crossed into the six-yard box, where captain Sebastian Schonlau prevailed and headed in (75').
The Hamburgers were now third again and in the relegation.
Meanwhile, it escalated more and more in the stands, firecrackers en masse and burning flags could be seen.
And while everyone was looking more at the stands than at the pitch, substitute Mikkel Kaufmann scored to make it 3-1 (85th).
Fröde's goal to make it 2:3 (90+1) came too late, HSV went into relegation.
Magath's bad nose:
Berlin's coach Felix Magath naturally wanted to take a look at the upcoming relegation opponent himself.
However, he only saw fourth place in Darmstadt, his assistant coach Mark Fotheringham was a guest in Rostock.
Maybe Magath can make his notes available to the German Football Museum after he has survived the league.
Or his successor, if he needs tips against Darmstadt in the coming second division season.
The dream relegation:
HSV against Hertha, Magath against the club that he shot to the greatest success in the club's history and where he once began his coaching career.
More is not possible.
The first leg will take place in Berlin on May 19th, the second leg in Hamburg on May 23rd (8:30 p.m. each day, TV: Sat.1 and Sky).
After the last match days in the Bundesliga and second division, it can only get bigger.