Suspected cruciate ligament tear
Referee Brych experiences a very bitter record game
November 25, 2023, 8:55 p.m
Since this Saturday evening, Felix Brych has been the record referee in the Bundesliga together with Wolfgang Stark. But the 48-year-old can’t enjoy the duel between Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart. He had to stop at halftime due to a knee injury.
Bitter record game for referee Felix Brych: The Munich referee set the Bundesliga appearances record in the game between Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart on Saturday evening (1:2) – but only lasted for one half. The 48-year-old from Munich was unable to play in his 344th game in the elite class due to a knee injury; he himself reported to Sky that he suspected a cruciate ligament tear.
“I thought, that can’t be true,” said Brych, crestfallen, before he went to the university clinic for further examinations. He described his mishap as follows: “I collapsed, the place was slippery.” On the advice of the doctors and because of the “bad diagnosis,” he stayed in the cabin. “I’m a little down.”
Fourth official Patrick Schwengers made his debut in the upper house at the restart after four second division matches and received high praise from Brych after his extremely confident performance. He equalized Wolfgang Stark’s record from May 2017. Markus Merk is in third place with 338 games.
After his slip, Brych broke off a relaxed trot in the Eintracht penalty area after just over half a minute and leaned on Stuttgart’s Jamie Leweling. He was treated for around three minutes and initially continued the game with a bandage on his knee – but only until halftime.
He emphasized that he never expected that Stark’s record would be broken: “What he has achieved is to be assessed in the same way as my performance – regardless of whether I have a few more games at the end. Brych had his Bundesliga premiere ended his international career, celebrated on August 28, 2004 in the game between Hertha BSC and 1. FSV Mainz 05.