Bundesliga News

With just four games to go, who will win promotion from the pulsating 2. Bundesliga?

By James Westmacott

With four games left to play of the 2. Bundesliga, here is a look at the tight promotion race.
With Bayern Munich on the verge of yet another Bundesliga title, Germany has unfortunately become one of the many European nations whose domestic league title appears a formality. Such verity has indisputably damaged the Bundesliga’s global reputation, with many having branded the league as a ‘farmers league’ with adjectives such as boring, predictable and unsurprising instantly springing to mind.


Yet, when digging a little deeper, dropping down a division, into the 2. Bundesliga, an entirely different world unfurls before your eyes. All of sudden, every adjective used to describe the modern-day first division of German football is relinquished, flipped on its head.

Just like there are few places with the Bundesliga’s level of inequitable one-club dominance, perhaps there are few leagues in European football as competitive as the 2. Bundesliga. In its current season, with four games remaining, there are six clubs realistically still in contention for promotion. The drama, the excitement, the unpredictability – everything you could ever want in a football league, the 2. Bundesliga has it in abundance.

With 26 league titles, 18 DFB Pokals and a European Cup between them, these much-storied clubs provide the 2. Bundesliga with a healthy dose of Traditionsvereine. But here, only the present matters. So, who will make it back to the promised land?

Schalke 04
Currently sitting pretty at the summit of the table, are Schalke, looking to bounce back up into the Bundesliga at the first time of asking after suffering a mortifying relegation last season. The task was simple, and nothing else would be acceptable: an immediate return to the Bundesliga. For a club like Schalke, perhaps the third-biggest club in Germany, a Bundesliga season containing just three wins ending in their displacement from the league is rightly considered an absolute sacrilege, with the idea of another season in Germany’s second division an unpleasant thought burdening Schalke fans’ minds.

In their search for an instantaneous resurrection, an extensive overhaul of the squad at the beginning of the season was filed, with the club moving on a number of experienced Bundesliga players who they perceived to have failed them, in return for a group of established 2. Bundesliga marksmen. Players like Weston Mckennie, Mark Uth, Matthew Hoppe and Sebastian Rudy made way, and in came the league’s greatest ever goal scorer Simon Terodde, along with the likes of Thomas Ouwejan, Rodrigo Zalazar, and Marius Bülter, all of which have greatly contributed through goals and assists to Schalke’s promotion push.


But it hasn’t at all been plain-sailing for Schalke this season, with the club having initially struggled to find their feet in an unfamiliar division. Lacking the consistency required for their planned immediate return, Schalke pulled the trigger on manager Dimitrios Grammozis, before promoting long-time assistant coach Mike Büskens into the frontman’s role in March. Since then, the club really hasn’t looked back.
With five wins from their last five – comfortably the best form of the current top six – Schalke have powered themselves into pole position with just four games remaining. Their form and current position would suggest they are odds-on to win the title, though their run-in appears tricky. With three of the current top five still to play in Werder Bremen, St Pauli, and Nürnberg, Schalke probably have the toughest run in of the promotion hopefuls. However, Schalke have the advantage of playing Werder and St Pauli at home, leaving Die Königsblauen very well-placed for a Bundesliga return.

Werder Bremen
The top two places of the 2. Bundesliga are currently taken up by last season’s relegated sides, with Werder Bremen also looking in good shape to make an instant return after their first relegation since 1980. The quest for redemption started poorly for Werder, finding themselves mid-table in November, with the pressure mounting on coach Markus Anfang after drab performances on the pitch, combined with him admitting to have used a fake vaccination certificate.
He subsequently resigned from his role, leaving the club mired in internal chaos, whilst their promotion rivals seemed to open up a lead on them. However, after the appointment of Ole Werner from Holstein Kiel, the tables have dramatically turned. Having only lost once since being appointed, Werner has taken them from 9th place up to their current 2nd, where they are now widely considered as promotion favourites. With perhaps the most lethal strike partnership in the division in Marvin Ducksch and Niclas Füllkrug, Werder’s firepower may well prove to be enough to ignite their Bundesliga dreams.

Werder Bremen’s run-in initially appeared incredibly difficult, though their two draws in their last two outings against St Pauli and Nürnberg, have proved to be excellent results, not only denying their promotion rivals the three points, but also solidifying their vigorous league position. Next up for Werder though is an away trip to Schalke, which would appear to be another must-not-lose game. But perhaps even with defeat, with Holstein Kiel and Jahn Regensburg at home to come, and Ezgebirge away, it would seem Die Grün-Weißen remain very well placed to return to the Bundesliga, but of course at this stage of the season with the pressure well and truly on, anything can happen. With only one win in their last five, perhaps a change of fortunate is very much needed if they are to remain in the automatic promotion spots.

St Pauli
For the vast majority of their eleven-year adventure in the 2. Bundesliga, St Pauli have persistently finished as a mid-table side, rarely threatening the league’s establishment. With wins this season against local rivals Hamburg, and current table-toppers Schalke, the Hamburg-based outfit have proved consistently that they’re a force to be reckoned with, thoroughly deserving their place at the dining table of the 2. Bundesliga’s elite.
Daniel-Kofi Kyereh has had a fantastic season for the ‘cult club’ having provided double figures in both goals and assists this season, and is a key reason for St Pauli’s relative success. Leart Paqarada has also contributed incredibly valuably from the left-back position, whilst the impregnable Guido Burgstaller has continued to prove why he’s considered a second-tier star.

Though their form lately has been shaky at best, with the club’s performances having certainly taken a dip since the turn of the year, particularly away from home. Home games to come against Darmstadt followed by Nürnberg pose incredibly difficult fixtures for St Pauli, and that’s before they travel to Schalke on the penultimate matchday. These are promotion six-pointers that will decide St Pauli’s fate. A return to the Bundesliga for the first time since 2011 may be slipping through their fingers, though a late flurry of wins will certainly put them firmly back into the promotion picture. Perhaps automatic promotion is veering on the side of unlikely, but a play-off fixture is certainly possible.

Darmstadt
Darmstadt currently sit in 4th position, five points off the league leaders and three points behind second, highlighting how for those in 4th-6th, whilst promotion is possible, there remains some serious work to be done. Perhaps the most surprising of this season’s promotion challengers, the club lost star-players Victor Pálsson and Serdar Dursun last season, with a promotion push never really having been on the cards.

Head coach Torsten Lieberknecht, despite having had to regularly deal with Covid outbreaks, has nonetheless succeeded in building an incredibly effective team, constructing a sturdy defence around centre-back Patric Pfeiffer, whilst simultaneously masterminding one of the most dangerous attacking duos in the league in Phillip Tietz and Luca Pfeiffer.

Darmstadt are certainly in contention, particularly for a play-off place. They remain a very well-balanced side with a strong sense of team unity, which is undoubtedly vital at this crucial stage of the season. Whilst their remaining fixtures look reasonable beyond this weekend’s challenge of St Pauli away, they’ve only won four games since January, and have only won one of their last five, having been obliterated by league-leaders Schalke last weekend – not the kind of form you need when looking to overturn a deficit to seal promotion.

Nürnberg
Despite a vast turnaround of Nürnberg’s fortunes since their ill-fated campaign that almost saw them relegated to the 3. Liga just two years ago, it would seem unlikely that the club will return to the Bundesliga this time round.

Their perceived unpredictability may well help them launch a late rally that will put them right in contention, but their attack is perhaps the weakest of the current top six. Young-talents such as Fabian Nürnberger and Erik Shuranov have certainly propelled the club into promotion hopefuls, as well as Nürnberg's solid defensive work having provided firm foundations in which those aforementioned younger players can thrive. Goalkeeper Christian Mathenia has been superb all season, whilst centre-back Christopher Schindler has also led the back-line with immense precision.

Though the gap may have already gotten too big. They are currently six points behind table-toppers Schalke, and four behind Werder Bremen. With St Pauli and Schalke still to play, it’s likely that Nürnberg are going to need 6 points from those two games alone just to stand a chance of automatic promotion, whilst simultaneously needing the top two to drop a number of points. Whilst it’s possible, it’s an incredibly difficult task.

Hamburger SV
Famously, Hamburg had competed in every Bundesliga season from 1963 up until their fateful relegation in 2018, and have been unable to make it back since. In the midst of a third-season in the 2. Bundesliga, one that initially seemed so full of promise, Hamburg look to have imploded once again, and as a result and have lost valuable ground towards the back end of the season.

Too many draws have seen the one-time European Cup winners slowly drift down the table. With points to make up, Hamburg’s promotion push looks like it will fall short again. Though, perhaps their one advantage over their rivals is that they do not have to play any of the other promotion challengers.

Whilst the others will take points off each other, Hamburg do not play anyone above 9th in their final four fixtures, highlighting how if Hamburg can quietly go about their business and win those four, they could find themselves in a fantastic position come the end of the season. Whilst the fixtures may appear slightly kinder, their recent form has been dodgy, with only two wins since February. 12 wins from 30 isn’t exactly a ground-breaking season, but Hamburg nevertheless find themselves in with a slight chance at this late stage of the season. It’s crunch time, and anything is possible.

It must also be said that Heidenheim and Paderborn also remain in contention mathematically, though their task is near-on impossible. Heidenheim are currently 7th with 45 points, needing an absolute miracle if they are to be promoted. The same goes for Paderborn, currently 8th with 44 points.

As yet another enthralling 2. Bundesliga season draws to a close, it has become clear that this league remains one of the most exciting in Europe, perhaps even the world. Regardless of who wins promotion, all sides in contention have served up an absolute treat to millions of fans around the world. The 2. Bundesliga is predictably unpredictable, with its perfect blend of drama and nostalgia the reason anyone who loves football should be watching. Often making up for the lack of excitement in the league above, it has proved time and time again that the one thing that German football unequivocally is not, is boring.


Bundesliga News

Fantasy Football

Tactics Talk

Editor's picks

Profiles

Turn back time