Sunday 19th December 2021
Gladbach, Leipzig and Co. are worried
For the festival there is an indigestible vortex of descent
The Bundesliga is exciting. Not at the top, because Bayern has hurried once again. But many established ones have to look down surprisingly. During the Christmas break, worries lie under the tree. RB Leipzig are just six points apart from the relegation zone.
Borussia Monchengladbach? In the middle! VfL Wolfsburg? Dick here! RB Leipzig? In the haze! But it’s not about the Champions League, after the first half of the season there are plenty of Bundesliga celebrities in dangerous regions. Half of the league is in the wake of the vortex of relegation at Christmas.
“Of course I can see that the situation is not without risk,” said Borussia coach Adi Hütter after the 1-1 (1-0) goal against TSG Hoffenheim at the last minute. Instead of looking at the international places, the foals look down. Just in time for the three-week winter break, the situation in the cellar has worsened again.
Responsible for the additional tension in the cellar are primarily the resurgent Bielefeld people. Arminia’s 2-0 coup at the runner-up in Leipzig created a bad mood at RB – and an even denser crowd in the lower half of the table. Just six points separate Bielefeld on the direct relegation place 17 from the crashed royal class starter from Leipzig. There are four points to the historically bad bankrupt wolves of coach Florian Kohfeldt, three of which only go to Mönchengladbach. With the draw in Hoffenheim, the Hütter-Elf sent at least one sign of life after the four previous defeats.
“A lot of unrest”
They have been waiting in vain for such a signal in Wolfsburg for weeks. The 0: 4 at Bayern was already the seventh lost competitive game in a row, something like this has never happened in the Bundesliga history of Lower Saxony. Coach Kohfeldt, who had only taken over as coach from Mark van Bommel in autumn, asked for patience. 20 points after the first half series is “not our claim. But it is not that we are beaten last”.
After the worst first half of the Bundesliga season in the club’s history, the people of Leipzig should at least look with one eye. It was the seventh (!) Defeat of the season against Arminia – the two teams from Bielefeld and Augsburg, which are in danger of relegation, have just as many on their account. “We have to shake a bit,” said managing director Oliver Mintzlaff at Sky, “it wasn’t a good first half of the season, there was a lot of unrest.” And coach Domenico Tedesco demanded: “In the winter break we have to clear our heads and then see that we show a different face.”
Otherwise, other teams may also threaten to pull by. Teams like VfL Bochum, who suffered a home defeat against Union Berlin (0-1) on the last day of the first half of the season, but are fully on target with 20 points from 17 games. Or Hertha BSC, which even has 21 points after the 3-2 win against Borussia Dortmund and would probably love to do without the upcoming break.
Or FC Augsburg, who after the poor zero number at the torn bottom light SpVgg Greuther Fürth is eager to do better in the second half of the season. “We have 18 points that don’t make us happy,” said Augsburg coach Markus Weinzierl.