A rousing dance of death
VfL Bochum is driving itself crazy
By Tobias Nordmann
April 27, 2024, 8:03 a.m
VfL Bochum defeated FC Bayern, ultimately ensuring that their coach Thomas Tuchel had to leave the club in the summer. But then an inexplicable crash begins – except for the relegation place. But on Friday evening there is a remarkable resurrection.
When Andrej Kramaric scored one of the most beautiful goals of this Bundesliga season on Friday evening, when he wonderfully received a long ball from Florian Grillitsch out of the air, processed it in a fluid movement and lifted it over goalkeeper Manuel Riemann as he beat the terribly weak Hoffenheim team had brought the score to 2:3 at VfL Bochum (84th), the Ruhrstadion stood still for a moment. Like at a raging party when the DJ suddenly turns on the lights and turns off the music. Nobody knows why, but every guest is angry. In Bochum, everyone who supported VfL felt this within themselves.
The hosts had a confident lead of 3-0. They attacked the team from Kraichgau. In the “most important game of the season,” as coach Heiko Butscher had previously proclaimed, the players in the dark blue jerseys delivered one of the best performances of the season. VfL had not won since February 18th. The win against FC Bayern (3-2) and the record champions’ decision to part ways with coach Thomas Tuchel in the summer was followed by an incomprehensible crash. After last week’s defeat at VfL Wolfsburg, they went from eleventh place to relegation place. A nine-point lead was lost.
There was great desperation in the area. Especially after the games against relegation rivals Darmstadt 98 and 1. FC Köln. Against the “Lilien” VfL gave it a 2-0 lead, staggered to a 2-2 draw and almost completely embarrassed themselves. A week later, Bochum led 1-0 at “Effzeh” until the 90th minute and lost 2-1. The team, still coached by Thomas Letsch, had impressively reinforced its reputation as last-minute idiots in the Bundesliga and was finally declared dead by some fans. How often had the drama at the end happened this season? When it came to crunch time, VfL wobbled like a lamb’s tail and gave away numerous points with misplaced magnanimity. Bochum is like Bayer Leverkusen – only in reverse, cultivated last-minute madness.
Baumann reacts sensationally
And of course the film of stupidity started playing again as soon as Kramaric scored his second goal of the evening. There was great fear of once again depriving yourself of the rewards of hard work. Like the wild ones, the Bochum team stormed towards their opponents with the kick-off. After just six minutes, VfL had shot four times at Oliver Baumann’s goal. He reacted sensationally strongly in the 6th minute, directing a shot from Philipp Hofmann onto the crossbar. Hoffenheim didn’t know what was happening to them in the first 15 minutes. They definitely had plans and ambitions, after all, at least the Conference League is still within reach. But like a team that wants to go to Europe, TSG didn’t perform.
It was only after 15 minutes that the guests freed themselves from their grip, kept the ball in their own ranks more often and could have suddenly pulled the game back to their side if Wout Weghorst hadn’t been offside. The Dutch striker, the most noticeable player on his team because he was the most bilious, was hit by Hofmann’s high leg in the penalty area. A clear penalty, but because the striker’s heel was in the illegal zone, the penalty whistle was withdrawn after a long VAR check (25th). What luck for the people of Bochum. Would they have recovered from this shock after the initial furor?
Hoffenheim had a brief momentum, but it quickly sank into Bochum’s passion. Maximillian Wittek blocked an attempt by Grillitsch and pushed himself so high that his opponent looked puzzled. Bochum was there and took the lead. Playmaker Kevin Stöger, about whom there had been hot transfer rumors in recent days (it will be Union Berlin), sank a free kick from 18 meters. The “Bild” newspaper then dubbed the Austrian “Ruhrpott”-Grimaldo. In the spirit of the little Spanish genius from Bayer Leverkusen, whose standards regularly amaze.
Bochum is teetering on the finish line
The game remained without respite. In return, the guests put the ball on the aluminum. Riemann was already beaten and the people in front of him hit the ball out of the danger zone. Another ecstasy in the stands. And when the game was already heading towards the locker room, Felix Passlack struck. He prevailed against the sleepy Kramaric and scored his second goal of the season. Passlack and Wittek delivered outstandingly, although they had hardly been taken into account in the past few months. Above all, the former Dortmund Passlack had long since been sorted into the “bad purchase” shelf, making his resurrection all the more remarkable.
In the second half the game hardly lost any of its intensity. Bochum continued to press like crazy and TSG desperately looked for a way out. In VfL’s rousing dance of death, the guests barely got a foot on the floor. And when Stöger struck again (64th), again punishing a lack of sleep, the party was really under way. Bochum fired from all positions and recorded 36 shots on goal. Every field player had scored at least one try. Probably no one thought any more about the numerous lamb’s tail moments of the recent past. But then Kramaric came first and second. The completely exhausted hosts sucked the last of their strength out of their bodies and pounded the balls into nirvana. “You start to think, then your legs get heavy,” said coach Butscher after his first win in the third game. “The last five minutes were crazy. You think: Don’t let it be like that this time.”
“It was a great game”
And it wasn’t like that this time. When Tobias Stieler blew the final whistle, the Bochum team sank to their knees, stretched their arms, and tears even flowed from Passlack. “We don’t have that trauma anymore,” said defender Bernardo. There were several discussions at VfL this week, and they were said to have been quite tough. “We don’t have to go out to dinner together as a team every night. But on the pitch we have to play like a team.” Thanks to the victory, the Bochum team temporarily climbed from the relegation place to 14th place and Butscher gave the order to celebrate: “You can do that too. This feeling lasts two or three hours, sometimes even a day. I hope that the addiction is great then, this “To have that great feeling again.”
“It was a great game, not an easy one at the end, but definitely a deserved winner. That feels incredibly good,” said double goalscorer Stöger at DAZN. “You could see that everyone was standing here today as a unit and that everyone around them was fighting, screaming and fighting together for this victory.” After the final whistle, the Austrian said, “everyone in Bochum was relieved.” As if to prove this, the stadium announcer shouted over the microphone after the victory: “We’re still alive!” And the DJ played Louis Clark’s classic “Hooked on Can Can.” The party was raging while Kramaric and Hoffenheim argued with their own fans in front of the corner.