NIt’s still January, but that doesn’t stop one or two TSV 1860 Munich fans from announcing a final, final playoff game on Sunday afternoon. A game about the question of whether the Lions still have a chance of promotion in the event of a defeat at VfL Osnabrück, given that they are nine points behind the direct promotion places and there are still 17 games left. Incidentally, these final games in Munich-Giesing always start around the third match day and, thanks to the reliably inconsistent performances, basically last the entire season. But the game didn’t have the character of a final, simply because there was no extra time despite a 1:1 (1:1). “Today was a classic third division game. We had significantly better chances to score in the second half, but in the end we still took the point,” said Sixty’s goalscorer Kevin Volland.
The problem, of course, is that Sixty comes out of the winter break anything but rested and has not strengthened the squad like some competitors. When Kauczinski was asked about the injured players on the Friday before the game, he read them off a prepared list; it almost sounded like a starting eleven. At least two players returned in goalkeeper Thomas Dähne and the suspended Thore Jacobsen, but Maximilian Wolfram was ill and was also said to be wishing him farewell. After the team was missing exactly eleven players in the 1-1 draw against Essen a week ago, there were now ten left, including the most successful goalscorer Sigurd Haugen (broken jaw) and Florian Niederlechner, who didn’t even travel to the training camp in Turkey because of muscle problems.
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At first it was smooth. Freezing rain in Osnabrück made the access roads to the stadium at the Bremer Bridge dangerously slippery. Then things got bumpy. Because of the grass, a disjointed game with many set pieces developed.
Now the eleven Lions players who then plowed the pitch were anything but a bad team, they started with a lot of cautious possession of the ball. But that rarely brought anything on this surface, so it was no coincidence that the first dangerous scene of the game arose after a corner for Osnabrück. And the second corner immediately afterwards ended up in the goal because Bjarke Jacobsen was completely free to head the ball (17th). Sixty seemed unsettled for a few minutes and Schifferl had to clear his own mistake on the line (27th).
It is questionable whether Sixty will survive the coming month unscathed
But the equalizer didn’t take long to arrive, and it fell even more out of nowhere than Osnabrück’s lead. However, this was also a moment in which, for once, no long ball was played forward, but thanks to a technically good individual performance. David Philipp made several opponents miss with a clever pass to himself, then Philipp Maier fed the unmarked Kevin Volland. And he could hardly have chosen a better time than this “finale” to finally meet again. His quite durable shot into the far corner was his first third division goal in twelve games. The former national player was also often seen near his own goal line, scrambling and defending crosses. “A goal is always good, I also work a lot, I think,” analyzed Volland himself. The mentality was right anyway, and from then on “the rest will come by itself.”
The situation is also not so bad that Kauczinski couldn’t add more. Substitute Justin Steinkötter, for example, had one of the best opportunities to turn the game around in the 74th minute when he narrowly missed the goal with a lob. Previously, Hobsch and Philipp also had good chances, but lacked precision (61st, 69th). Now the Munich three would have been deserved. In the final phase, Kauczinski had to watch one last Osnabrück free kick, chewing gum hard and with his hands on his head, and then it was over. Kauczinski had already said that the squad was “competitive”, and the Lions had shown that again, nothing more and nothing less. “I was happy with the second half, but not with the first, overall it was fair,” said the coach. His team is “stable”, but he has also seen “drags in the gears” at times.
It is questionable, however, how unscathed Sixty will survive the coming month, as the staff shortage will continue for the time being. The question of who would be returning at least next weekend elicited a “woooouuuuw” from the coach on Friday, then he said: actually only Wolfram. He estimates the absence of attacker Sigurd Haugen for another four to six weeks, as the broken jaw will first have to “grow back” completely. This is significant because Kauczinski briefly made it clear that the attack team is most likely to be planning a signing. If there isn’t a player who can step up immediately, the 55-year-old will stick with the existing squad: “Because if I bring in someone else who needs time, I’ll have 35 players at some point.”
