This situation has never happened before on a 23rd matchday in the Bundesliga. Four clubs are tied at the bottom of the table. And then the stumbling "old lady" from Berlin joins them. This strange constellation ensures plenty of excitement and drama!
"Hello, this is Nuremberg, we're reporting from the abyss!" It is this exclamation by radio reporter Günther Koch on match day 34 of the 1998/99 season that has gone down in the annals of the Bundesliga. Back then, five teams fought for salvation in the absolute finish of the season. Because from Eintracht Frankfurt (34 points), it could hit anyone with Hansa Rostock (35 points), SC Freiburg (36 points), VfB Stuttgart (36 points) and 1. FC Nürnberg (37 points) - too when the club from Franconia, where Günther Koch was at the microphone that day, had a false sense of security - as was later known - due to the goal difference.
At that time, Borussia Mönchengladbach and VfL Bochum had already been relegated before the last match day, but unlike today, 16th place in the table led directly to the second division. In the end, it came as a complete surprise to 1. FC Nürnberg - the club with the best starting position.
The current situation at the bottom of the table in the first Bundesliga is also surprising. For the first time in league history, four teams are tied at the bottom of the table after matchday 23. The new tail light VfL Bochum, the penultimate FC Schalke 04, TSG Hoffenheim in 16th and VfB Stuttgart in 15th place each have 19 points.
Only goal difference separates the four teams at this point in the season. And then there is the capital club Hertha BSC, which has just one point more than the four teams at the bottom of the table, another club in acute relegation trouble. The special thing about this strange constellation around the dim light of the red lantern: All five clubs have a very special story to tell that has brought them to this inglorious and extremely delicate situation.
Let's start with the bottom of the league, VfL Bochum. The club was almost relegated after the sixth day of play and the sixth defeat in a row. But then Thomas Reis was released after the 3-1 defeat at Schalke and VfL started an impressive race to catch up with a 1-1 draw at home against 1. FC Köln under interim coach Heiko Butscher and then under the new head coach Thomas Letsch. Among other things, Bochum managed to match an old record from the 1970s when they won five times in a row at home in the venerable Ruhrstadion.
They thought they were already on the right track at VfL, but recently they suffered four defeats in a row without scoring their own goal. The mood in Bochum is desolate at the latest after the weekend and the devastating home bankruptcy, of all things against Reis' Schalke. Because in the club, which was in such a splendid position about a year ago, a conflict has been smoldering since the never fully clarified departure of sports director Sebastian Schindzielorz (now VfL Wolfsburg) and the strange events during the summer break around ex-coach Reis, which is caused by continued silence on the part of all those involved will not be eliminated.
And it is precisely this conflict that the new Schalke coach Thomas Reis left to VfL that is currently strengthening the position of the Royal Blues in direct competition with their neighbours. Because what Thomas Reis has gotten out of the S04 team in recent weeks and how he has formed a team that fights passionately for the club from a solid defense impresses the league. In this condition, FC Schalke 04 is currently the club that is best equipped for the nerve-wracking relegation battle.
Actually, and felt almost relegated, the Royal Blues can now play freely. If major injury concerns do not cause new problems, it will be difficult for the other four clubs in the table basement to stop the S04 in its intermediate sprint. Because one thing is surprising about this strange relegation battle: the teams from 14th place, with the exception of FC Schalke 04, have hardly moved from the spot in a snail race for weeks.
And that is exactly what is slowly becoming a real problem for TSG Hoffenheim. Because the people of Kraichgau are still rubbing their eyes in amazement at how they got into this delicate situation in the first place. They usually give their all week after week, but in terms of points, this is not noticeable in the table account. An unusual situation for TSG Hoffenheim. When the 2012/13 season surprisingly went down for the Kraichgauer, the season ended with relegation. At that time, Hoffenheim was able to prevail in two games against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. At the moment, TSG is again exactly on this place.
In Stuttgart, the fans had expected a lot from the well-known "saviour" Bruno Labbadia, but even under the old, experienced Bundesliga coach, the Stuttgarters simply didn't score enough. In the meantime, the atmosphere at VfB has become rather destructive again - even though you had to expect before the season that the season would be as nerve-wracking as it was a year ago.
But of course the supporters and the management of the club had the hope in the meantime of finally being able to experience a season in the secure midfield of the league again. The reality is different now. It will be interesting to see whether VfB will still be able to start a series like Schalke did at the moment or VfL Bochum a few months ago and thus score the necessary points to once again successfully avoid relegation.
In Berlin, too, after last year's relegation against Hamburger SV, they had hoped to finally find calmer waters again under the new president Kay Bernstein. But the "clearing action" at Hertha after Hollywood-ready years is apparently still going on. An advantage for the Berliners could actually be, similar to VfB, the experience of the relegation battle in the past season. Club and team should know how to deal with the special pressure. Because the sporting events for the club this season should at least not have come as a surprise.
But no matter how the situation may develop for the five clubs at the bottom of the table in the next few weeks, in the end it is important for all clubs to prevent the last step on the abyss. Who will succeed? In this strangest relegation battle of all time, no one knows yet. But that's exactly what makes it so appealing!
