Ingolstadt boss reflects on club's relegation: "The game today was emblematic of the whole season."
Once again, FC Ingolstadt 04 couldn't hold onto a lead on Friday night at Karlsruhe's Wildparkstadion.
A 2-2 draw against the Karlsruher SC on Friday evening wasn't enough for FC Ingolstadt officially sealed the club's relegation back to Germany's third footballing division just one year after promotion.
Afterwards, club managing director Dietmar Beiersdorfer gave a composed response.
Despite rushing out to a 2-0 lead, the Bavarian "Schanzer" club couldn't put the game to bed against the KSC on Friday evening. As a result, the Badeners fought back to score to in the final 20 minutes and secure a 2-2 draw. Just one point from the visit to BaWü officially seals relegation from the 2. Bundesliga for FC Ingolstadt 04.
A 2-2 draw against the Karlsruher SC on Friday evening wasn't enough for FC Ingolstadt officially sealed the club's relegation back to Germany's third footballing division just one year after promotion.
Afterwards, club managing director Dietmar Beiersdorfer gave a composed response.
After attaining promotion via the playoff place last season, it's back to the 3. Bundesliga for the one-time Bundesligists.
Reflecting on the confirmed relegation, club boss Dietmar Beiersdorfer lamented the fact that his team couldn't close out the deal in the latest match. Beiersdoerfer nevertheless made clear that the FCI had prepared for this inevitably for some time.
"We've already made it clear that we had to prepare for this," Beiersdorfer noted, "the game today was emblematic of the whole season. We couldn't close the deal. One can't get points like that."
The Schanzer have won just four fixtures this season. Together with eight draws, the 20 points accrued leave them rock bottom of the 2. Bundesliga table. The decision to bring in trainer André Schubert ahead of the new campaign didn't work.
Neither did the choice to sack him halfway through and hire Rüdiger Rehm. There was a quasi big signing during the January transfer window in the form of Greuther Fürth defender Hans Nunoo Sarpei. This too yielded little.
"Sadly, the decisions just didn't work out this year," Beiersdorfer added, "We tried a course correction this winter and partially delivered good games. But we didn't show up over the course of the whole season. The gap thus large and this is a deserved relegation."
The "Audi-Autstädter" did play two seasons in Germany's top flight between 2015 and 2017. After the 2016/17 relegation, the descent down into the third tier was took two more seasons. After two campaign's in the 3. Bundesliga, last year's promotion came at the expense of VfL Osnabrück.