Nevertheless, Schlotterbeck told the TV channel Sky before the return match on Monday (8.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the relegation, on Sat.1 and Sky) in Düsseldorf: “I definitely still believe in it. VfL Bochum will never go under.” Going down to the second Bundesliga, but probably. After the extremely unfortunate own goal by Bochum’s Philipp Hofmann (13th minute), Felix Klaus (64th) and Yannik Engelhardt (72nd) added to the score for Fortuna. The starting position is clear.
Schlotterbeck still resisted VfL’s premature demise. “Chin up – today you got such a slap in the face that you can play anything or nothing on Monday. Either you go home with a 0:6 defeat or you try to turn things around somehow,” said the brother of national player Nico Schlotterbeck. “But anything is possible on Monday. Football writes wild stories and we will throw everything into the balance to make that happen.”
Düsseldorf’s Tzolis prepares all goals
Despite all the bad luck that striker Hofmann had, for example, when the ball bounced off his thigh into his own goal after a Düsseldorf corner, Fortuna showed the class they had already demonstrated in the second Bundesliga, especially in the final stretch of the season. Christos Tzolis, for example, who was the top scorer, did not score in Bochum, but assisted all three goals. VfL knew what was coming their way, but they could not stop the fast Greek or his teammates.
At 0-1, Tzolis took a sharp corner to the first post, from where he hit Hofmann. At 0-2, the Düsseldorf player’s world-class pass to goal scorer Klaus outmaneuvered the entire defense on a counterattack; you can hardly see a better pass like that at a higher level in football. At 0-3, Tzolis cleverly and sharply shot a free kick around the wall, so that goalkeeper Andreas Luthe, who was playing instead of Manuel Riemann, deflected the ball forward and into the middle to Engelhardt.
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The 37-year-old Luthe, who played in the relegation match with Bochum in 2011 and lost, ran straight to the dressing room in frustration after the final whistle. He was surprisingly included in the starting eleven because VfL had dropped Riemann from the squad at the start of the week. The club did not provide any details, and before the match, coach Heiko Butscher only spoke of the “general conditions” that had been mentioned for the two relegation matches. “Manuel has not committed to that,” so he was not there.
The Riemann issue dominated the discussion before the game, and afterwards it was all about trying to keep the minimal hope of staying in the league alive. “The straw has now become incredibly small, of course,” said Butscher. “Even if there is a certain emptiness now, we owe it to the club and the fans to try everything.” Sports director Patrick Fabian sounded similar: “No matter how small the straw is, no matter how small the hope, we will not stop until the end.”
But Fabian was also affected by the result and the experience in the Ruhrstadion. “It’s a brutal day for all of us,” he said. Midfield director Kevin Stöger thought: “Bochum didn’t deserve that. It sounds a bit silly now, but if Düsseldorf can score three goals here, why shouldn’t we do it,” he said. Schlotterbeck was still radiating great conviction late in the evening. “We’ll let them celebrate over there – and strike back on Monday.”
The victorious Düsseldorf team were not unprepared for this, despite all the joy they felt over the 3-0 win. “I don’t think Bochum will say ‘We’re giving up, we’re already relegated’,” said goal scorer Engelhardt. “That’s why we have to fight back on Monday.” Goalkeeper Florian Kastenmeier warned: “We’ve seen often enough in football that a 3-0 lead can be turned around.” Coach Daniel Thioune even spoke of a “small lead. The journey is not over yet.” But Fortuna is on the right track.
