Being the worst team in the second half of the season (ten points from 17 games) in the second division no longer counts for SV Wehen Wiesbaden (SVWW). Immediately after the last round of matches (1:2 against champions St. Pauli) last Sunday, the Hessians were already looking forward – and upwards. “We are pulling ourselves together by wanting to stay in the league.” This is a “unique opportunity,” said defensive midfielder Robin Heußer.
Above all, it is the last chance for the third-to-last team in the second division. They have to win the two relegation matches against the third-placed team in the third division, Jahn Regensburg, if the Wiesbaden team does not want to be relegated again after just one season. The rescue mission in the football and league comparison sector starts this Friday (8.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the 2nd Bundesliga, on SAT.1 and Sky) in Regensburg, before the all-important encounter takes place next Tuesday (8.30 p.m.) in Wiesbaden. The great importance is reflected in the strong public response: the stadium on Berliner Strasse has been sold out with 12,100 spectators for days. In Regensburg, the Wiesbaden team says they are expecting around 1,000 fans to travel with them. The club and team will cover the costs of their bus trips.
Proven “all-or-nothing” experts
“We can do relegation” – that’s what both clubs can say about themselves. They are proven experts in this nerve-wracking discipline with the motto: all or nothing. Wiesbaden and Regensburg each managed to get into the next division twice via the detour of relegation. In 2023, to the surprise of many, the Hessians gave the then first division relegated team Arminia Bielefeld no chance in the two duels (4:0 and 2:1). The outcome fit the picture: Since the relegation was reintroduced in the 2008/2009 season, the third division club has won the showdown eleven times and the second division club only four times. In the past three years, the lower-class club has always triumphed in the final battle for survival.
Although they were a top team in the third division, Regensburg are not bursting with energy either. After a very good first half of the season, they must be disappointed that they did not get promoted straight to the second division. Regensburg are third from bottom in the second half of the season table; Jahn, who have not won in six games, were delighted with their last victory at the beginning of April. “Of course Wehen are the favorites because they play in the second division,” says their coach Joe Enochs.
But the Wiesbaden team also last won on March 3rd. After a first half of the season in which SVWW was well on its way to staying in the league, the club can now look back on a series of ten games without a win. The 32 points gained in 34 games meant that in the history of the relegation participants only Osnabrück (31) was in a worse position.
Nils Döring, who stepped in for the released coach Markus Kauczinski, has lost each of his three matches. After his red card in the match against FC St. Pauli for unsportsmanlike conduct, the coach was banned from the stadium in Regensburg. “This is not a one-man show. I have complete confidence in my coaching team,” says Döring. He will look down on the pitch from the stands.
