The last matchday of the 2nd Bundesliga starts dramatically for Hamburger SV. Suddenly even the relegation would be gone. But the club turns the game against Hansa Rostock – and can still hope for promotion. The season can be crowned against Hertha BSC.
Coach Tim Walter jumped across the Rostock lawn as if he were insane, the Hamburg players around striker Robert Glatzel celebrated happily arm in arm in front of their fans: Thanks to a furious comeback victory at Hansa Rostock, Hamburger SV has the long-awaited return to the Bundesliga after four years close in sight.
With the 3: 2 (0: 1) at FC Hansa Rostock, Hamburg defended third place on the last second division match day and scored on May 19 and 23 (20:30 / both Sky, Sat.1 and in the ntv.de live ticker) in the relegation to the Bundesliga-16. Hertha BSC from Berlin with HSV icon Felix Magath as coach. Even before the final whistle, the HSV supporters shouted: “Berlin, Berlin, we’re going to Berlin.”
The jump to second place and thus the direct promotion was denied to the team of coach Tim Walter, since northern rivals Werder got the necessary victory against SSV Jahn Regensburg with the 2:0 (1:0). The Bremen team is returning to the big football stage together with FC Schalke 04 after just one year.
HSV would love to join the duo. But now he has to stand up to the Berliners. After all, the Hanseatic League go into the decisive games with the confidence of five wins in a row. “There is nothing better than winning a game like this today,” said captain Sebastian Schonlau on Sky. “What we play for a season is really good.” Goal scorer Robert Glatzel agreed: “Incredible, indescribable!”
In front of 26,150 spectators in the sold-out Ostseestadion – including 2,500 HSV fans – the Hamburg team struggled against the free-playing Rostockers before the break. Nico Neidhart (13th) with Hansa’s lead caused the guests to be put off early. In the second half they forced the turnaround with Glatzel’s 22nd goal of the season (50′), Schonlau (75′) and Mikkel Kaufmann (85′). Lukas Fröde’s connection in stoppage time made the game exciting again for a short time. HSV has to improve against Magath’s Hertha in order to finally get back up.
Schonlau didn’t want to think about Hertha just yet. “Today we’re happy about third place. We finally made it,” said Schonlau. “And then we’ll go full throttle to Berlin.” Hansa coach Jens Härtel would have liked to say goodbye to the Rostock fans with a win. “We let HSV live because we didn’t take big chances,” said the coach. Hansa goalkeeper Markus Kolke reassured him: “We played an outstanding season.”
The fact that HSV was able to intervene in the promotion process at all was due not only to their own strength in the final sprint, but also to the weakening competition. After the 1-0 defeat at Holstein Kiel in April, it all seemed to be over: HSV, seven points behind third place, was considered written off. Points record (45) and placement (6th) were the worst in four second division years at a comparable time.
Trainer Walter was eyed more critically. In connection with his team, the 46-year-old spoke more of development and less of results and stubbornly stuck to his risky game idea. But in sports director Jonas Boldt, who has been working on the promotion project since 2019, he always had his strongest advocate and was able to continue working in peace.
After the Kiel game, the Hamburgers started their series, the Walter critics became quieter with every victory. The competitors Schalke 04, Werder Bremen, Darmstadt 98 and above all city rivals FC St. Pauli failed, HSV was back in the promotion race. And with every success, self-confidence grew. “We’re confident in ourselves, we’re brave,” said Walter, adding: “We’re right where we are.”
Unlike in the first three second division seasons, when the return to the upper house was lost due to weak results in the crunch time of the season and only the thankless fourth place jumped out, it was now the other way around. Even before the guest appearance in Rostock, it was clear that HSV had their best record of the second half of the season. With third place, he has now also achieved his best second division placement in four years. What is missing is only the crowning glory of the relegation. Glatzel: “We hope that we can move up.”
The Hamburgers already have their experience with the elimination games for the last first division starting place – but always as a Bundesliga 16. In 2014 they beat SpVgg Greuther Fürth, who were third in the second division at the time, with two draws and held the class. A year later they had to win against Karlsruher SC in extra time to avoid relegation.
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