Bayern and BVB made a fool of themselves against teams from the bottom of the table – and unexpectedly caused new drama in the relegation battle. What the four to eight teams have been delivering down there in the basement for several weeks is the very best football entertainment.
It was a grotesquely brilliant show that Mike Krüger presented on TV in the mid to late 80s. It was called “Four Against Willi” – and it was the very best television entertainment. The star of the program was the golden hamster Willi, who was placed in a labyrinth at the end of the evening and depending on the outcome he chose whether the winners received their prize in DM, shillings or lira. Willie is still there! He is currently running through the tricky relegation battle labyrinth under changing club names – and has still not decided which club will end up in which little gate. Relegation, relegation or rescue – everything is still possible for the four to eight teams in the dark basement of the Bundesliga.
Calling the fight at the end of the table insane is almost a trivialization of the term “insane”. Because for the supporters of the clubs, which have been in twelfth place for weeks, this brutal roller coaster of emotions can hardly be endured. Endlessly long negative series alternate with colossal surprise successes that completely unexpectedly allow hope to sprout again. The draws of TSG Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart and VfL Bochum this weekend against the first three clubs at the other end of the table were hardly on a note in this form in the nervous Bundesliga syndicate. And that’s exactly why these unforeseeable events stand out so much – because they always make the relegation battle exciting in an unexpected way and whirl everything that seems to be calculated upside down in one fell swoop.
Grotesque at BVB and Bayern
At that time with “Vier gegen Willi” the show lived exactly from these radical turns, which were revolutionary for the TV world at the time. When “Die Toten Hosen” suddenly stormed a candidate’s apartment live on the show and celebrated a boisterous party in his rooms or another participant’s beloved car was crushed in front of his eyes in the scrap press, then the viewers at home suffered in a special way and way with. And that’s exactly what happened to the football fans at the games in Munich and Stuttgart on Saturday. With great astonishment, the TV viewers were able to watch live how FC Bayern Munich was duped by TSG Hoffenheim in their own stadium. And quite a few football fans rubbed their eyes in amazement at what was happening grotesquely in the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium in Stuttgart. BVB outnumbered BVB in the very last minute to equalize against an uninhibited and enthusiastically playing VfB.
- Ben Redelings is a best-selling author and comedian from the Ruhr area.
His current book “60 Years Bundesliga. The Anniversary Album” is a modern classic from the publishing house “The workshop”
He travels throughout Germany with his football programs. Info & dates www.scudetto.de.
The example of Stuttgart is a wonderful way to summarize how wild and strange the fight in the basement of the table is this season. It was not even two weeks ago when VfB legends Hansi Müller, Karlheinz Förster and Timo Hildebrand painted the near future of their club in the blackest tones in a major German tabloid. The weakness of their club away from home made them very concerned. But then came the change of coach – and lo and behold: VfB won abroad for the first time since December 2021. And of all things with one of his biggest rivals in the table basement, VfL Bochum.
Before the game, Hansi Müller had speculated: “If you lose there, Bochum will be eight points behind. You won’t catch up anymore.” But then VfB won and was back in the thick of it. And hope and faith are back among the Swabians. After the unexpected point win against BVB at the weekend, the Stuttgart team can pull FC back into the middle of the relegation battle with a win on Friday in Augsburg. Only: The Augsburgers have always won the last six games on a Friday evening at home. But that really shouldn’t mean anything in this crazy season.
Who are the “little ones” and the “big ones”?
Because the third surprise team of the last weekend – VfL Bochum, who got a point in Köpenick from Union – regularly ensures that he drives his fans to despair with unpredictable results. Bochum likes to mess it up against the “small” and table neighbors, such as Schalke and VfB, in order to then score points against the so-called “big ones”, such as RB Leipzig or Eintracht Frankfurt.
At the moment everything and nothing seems possible for the clubs in the table basement – and yet they have hardly gotten anywhere in the last few weeks. The snail race continues. The Bundesliga relegation battle is currently waiting with a seldom experienced darned drama. This is top entertainment! Mike Krüger and his golden hamster Willi would have fun – that’s for sure.