The case: Fin Bartels fought for the ball in the Heidenheim penalty area, ran alone to the goalkeeper, then crossed and Ludwig Augustinsson shot just under the bar of the empty goal. The decision was made, like Werder coach Florian Kohfeldt celebrating the goal. Werder Bremen remains in the Bundesliga after 40 years, Heidenheim does not rise.
Keep going, soon: “We spoke of a life chance,” said Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt after the game at Dazn. The disappointment with the missed climb was clearly noticeable. Before that, he and his team had made a circle on the lawn and made a speech. “You don’t know what to say,” said Schmidt, reminding Oliver Kahn: “It goes on, on and on. But we need a few days to process this.” Then he went into the cabin.
The result: Augustinson’s goal (85th minute) had been the 2-1 lead for Werder Bremen. After that, Tim Kleindienst scored for 1. FC Heidenheim, but the 2-2 final score did not result in promotion or relegation due to the away goals rule, but double relegation. Here is the match report.
Full chapel: The Heidenheim team had brought a cowbell to Bremen for the first leg to support their team. In return, Werder’s physical therapist had hammered a metal case with a hammer. The Bremen metal case hammer drum now made it to the second leg. The Heidenheim residents, on the other hand, drew other sound registers: real timpani, drums, blows, rattles, a howling alarm siren – and frying pans with soup ladles. Kitchen psychology, but the personal gossip is still better than gossip distributed by the club.
First half: Werder appeared very different from the 0-0 in the Weser Stadium. Right from the start, the Bremen team pressed for chances, Josh Sargent missed a degree from a few meters in the first minute. Shortly thereafter, Norman Theuerkauf’s own goal then took the lead (3rd). After that Bremen put pressure on for about 20 minutes and at times had 70 percent possession. In the middle of the round, the team withdrew and left the ball to Heidenheim. The hosts equalized the possession of the ball, but after shots on goal it was 1-6 at the break.
Greetings from the cup: Before the relegation duels, Bremen’s coach Kohfeldt was asked whether he would like to play the Heidenheim games like a cup game and urge an early decision. No, Kohfeldt said, the relegation consisted of two games, so the team had to be more strategic. Now the second leg was like an all-or-nothing game like in the cup. And so Kohfeldt pulled out the cup tactics again – in the second round Werder Heidenheim defeated 4-1 after three quick goals: put pressure early, take the lead early.
Second half: After the break, Heidenheim coach Schmidt, Stefan Schimmer and David Otto, brought in two fresh attacking forces – and they almost turned the game upside down. But just almost. Schimmer first failed at Werder’s goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka (46.), then he shot over the goal (47.), shortly afterwards Otto headed the ball just next to the goal (48.). Bremen wavered but did not fall over. The two goals by Tim Kleindienst did not change anything in the final phase (85./90.+8).
Unexpected visit: After about an hour it became even more strange in the stands. About 50 people had, however, gotten into the stadium. The women and men were apparently Heidenheim fans, some wore jerseys, created a bit of atmosphere for the second division, but paid attention to the rules of distance. After about five minutes, however, some of them were expelled from the interior and thus missed the goal-rich final phase. Ghost game remains ghost game.
No victory, no descent: Werder Bremen managed to stay in the class without winning the relegation. Coach Kohfeldt didn’t want to talk about the game itself afterwards. “I’m just happy and happy that we made it,” said Kohfeldt: “Fucking season, good end.” After all the pressure has dropped, he wants to go on vacation soon. “See nothing, hear nothing, hand in your cell phone,” says Kohfeldt at Amazon Prime: “Then, no matter what happens, I will lie down on a beach where nobody knows me and let God be a good man.”
