In relegation without a regular goalkeeper
Dispute between VfL Bochum and keeper Riemann escalates
May 20, 2024, 2:12 p.m
VfL Bochum will play the Bundesliga relegation games without regular goalkeeper Manuel Riemann. As the club reports, the keeper and the coaching staff have agreed on this step. The reason is “irreconcilable different opinions on team issues,” it says in a statement.
VfL Bochum’s nerves are obviously on edge. Before the relegation first leg against Fortuna Düsseldorf on Thursday, the Ruhrpott club removed its goalkeeper idol Manuel Riemann from the squad. VfL, which has barricaded itself behind closed doors, said the reason for excluding the controversial fan favorite from the second leg was “irreconcilable different opinions on team issues”. The regular goalkeeper is missing in the two duels against the third-placed team in the second division on Thursday in Bochum and on Monday in Düsseldorf (each at 8.30 p.m./Sat.1, Sky and in the live ticker at ntv.de). As the club announced, the keeper and the coaching staff have “agreed” on this step.
Bochum tried to keep calm before the important games and assured that the measure was “not a suspension or punishment”. But the message is clear: there is a bang in the Ruhr area. Riemann was always considered undisputed in Bochum despite a few misfires; he has played 290 competitive games for the club since his move in 2015. Together with Riemann, those responsible want to “work through this situation after the end of the season”. The Revierklub does not say what exactly it is about.
For the two games against the third-place team in the second division, representative Andreas Luthe is now considered the most likely option in goal. The 37-year-old veteran returned to his youth club from second division club 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the winter. Luthe played in Bochum from 2001 to 2016. Among other things, he was in goal in Bochum’s last appearance to date in the 2011 relegation game against Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the Bundesliga this season he played his only game in the home game against Rasenballsport Leipzig (1:4).
The Bochum team only fell back to the relegation place in the final minutes of a dramatic season finale on matchday 34 – thanks to Union Berlin’s 2-1 winning goal against SC Freiburg. While the Köpenick team ensured they stayed in the league, VfL had to take detention. The bitter 1:4 defeat at Werder Bremen left the club unsettled. Captain Anthony Losilla spoke of a “cruel” and “unacceptable” performance: “We simply failed.”
In addition to the hope of a significant increase in performance, the Bundesliga 16th place is likely. The statistics also give some confidence: since the re-introduction of relegation games for the 2008/09 season, the first division team has prevailed in 12 of 15 duels. Opponent Fortuna Düsseldorf is one of the rare newcomers on this path: in 2011/2012 they achieved this against Hertha BSC, and 1. FC Nürnberg (2008/09) and 1. FC Union Berlin (2018/19) also advanced on this path the Bundesliga.