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Babelsberg embarrasses million dollar troops (nd current)

Babelsberg celebrates despite defeat in the DFB Cup.

Foto: imago images/Picture Point

Even on the day after leaving the DFB Cup, the regional league team Babelsberg 03 was not annoyed. After all, the fourth division had fought bravely on Tuesday evening in the second round against Champions League participants RB Leipzig and only lost 1-0. Fans of both camps created a great atmosphere in the Karl Liebknecht Stadium, which was sold out with 6218 visitors. “It was all very good. This game was one of the biggest highlights for us in recent years, «said Babelsberg’s CEO Björn Laars.

The attentive goalkeeper Jannick Theißen only had to reach behind him once. The terribly struggling outsider almost saved himself with a goalless draw during the break. But in the 45th minute, Leipzig’s Dominik Szoboszlai fired a leg shot after Yussuf Poulsen’s presentation, against which Theißen was powerless. Because Leipzig missed one or the other chance in the second half, it stayed exciting until the end. After the final whistle, the hosts were initially very disappointed, but the team was extensively celebrated by their supporters.

In the first round of the cup, SV Babelsberg had beaten Bundesliga climber Greuther Fürth on penalties. Now the million troop from Leipzig could at least be embarrassed. »In the end, RB deserved to continue. We put everything in as far as we could and were able to play at eye level for a while. It was to be expected that we had fewer shares in the game, ”said Babelsberg’s coach Jörg Buder. And added: “The team’s performance cannot be recognized highly enough. On the one hand I’m proud, on the other hand disappointed that we lost. “

Buder was still assistant coach at the Potsdam team until the summer. He took over the squad shortly after the start of the season when there were apparently irreconcilable atmospheric disturbances between his predecessor Predrag Uzelac and the kickers. In his first match as an interim trainer, Buder Fürth was thrown out of the competition. In September, the former footballer of BFC Dynamo and Tennis Borussia Berlin and Babelsberg officially became head coach. The club’s management is encouraged to have promoted him. »Jörg Buder is a child of the association. That it works so well with him is confirmation for us, «says Laars.

Before the season started, the CEO had put sixth to ninth place as the season’s goal for the Regionalliga Nordost. After 15 game rounds, the club is sixth in the table, fully on target. Against the teams in front of the Babelsbergers Berliner AK, BFC Dynamo, Lok Leipzig, FC Carl Zeiss Jena and VSG Altglienicke there was no victory, but at least two draws and only narrow defeats. With a little more luck, the zero threes would be even closer to the top of the table.

Nevertheless, the team wants to build on the strong performance against Leipzig. “The development has been going in the right direction for weeks. We play better football. The results are correct. The audience comes back. Everyone is happy, ”said Buder, referring to next Sunday’s away game at Energie Cottbus. “The path we’ve taken is really good. The key is that the players believe that they are good and that they implement it. Then we will not only play a good role this year, but also in the next and the one after that. “

It is also fun for the neutral visitor to follow games in the »Karli«. Stadium announcer Thomas Hintze makes cheeky, but by no means disrespectful announcements. “I am of the opinion that our team will do justice to the role of favorites and advance to the next round,” he informed the audience shortly before kick-off.

The active Babelsberg fan scene ensures proper support on the back straight and under the roof behind one of the goals. With a banner and countless flags with the words “Anti Red Bull” they made their aversion to RB Leipzig clear several times. Another banner read that for the Babelsbergers in Leipzig there were only the traditional chemistry and locomotive associations. But indirectly, RB Leipzig will even pay for the pyrotechnics that Babelsberg fans repeatedly ignite. At the request of the smaller club, RB waived its share of the viewer income. According to CEO Laars, this should be around 20,000 euros.

Even the guest coach raved about the football atmosphere at the gates of Berlin. “A week ago we just lost against PSG with Messi, Neymar and Mbappe in the Prinzenpark in Paris, now we had seen a close game against a regional league team,” said Leipzig coach Jesse Marsch. “I think it’s so awesome to have this experience. I was really enthusiastic about the atmosphere in Babelsberg. «The audience there is considered to be politically left-wing. In this respect it hardly differed from some of the supporters in the well-filled guest block. RB fans remembered the day of death of the anti-fascist wrestler Werner Seelenbinder with banners. They also showed solidarity with the Red Star Leipzig association.

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