Expected in the upper regions of the table – landed in the relegation zone.
The two teams that were relegated from the Bundesliga, Schalke 04 and Hertha BSC, are also one class below their success. After five match days, both clubs have only been able to celebrate one win.
On the other hand, another perceived first division team is currently fulfilling all expectations: Hamburger SV also shone in the 2-0 (1-0) in the top game against Hansa Rostock and remained at the top of the table with 13 points before the international break.
Baumgartl: “Doesn’t match our requirements”
The mood at Schalke and Berlin, who were traded as promotion competitors for HSV before the season, is at a low point. “Disappointment, bewilderment. The late 1-1 suits our situation. But this draw doesn’t suit our aspirations,” said Schalke’s Timo Baumgartl after the late draw at promoted SV Wehen-Wiesbaden: “If we want to be a top team, what we do are not yet, I say ‘yet’ deliberately, then you have to kill the game. We didn’t make it.”
While Schalke unluckily conceded the equalizer in the fifth minute of stoppage time, the Berliners set negative records in league 2. A relegated team had never started with three defeats in the lower house, and a second division team had never lost a league game after leading four times. “How we scored goals was new to me. We had no control even after the lead, nobody took responsibility,” Hertha coach Pal Dardai complained about the lack of self-confidence in his players after the 6-4 defeat at 1. FC Magdeburg .
Instead of going in the direction of the Oberhaus in competition with the sixth attempt announced by Hamburger SV, the distance for the traditional clubs to the promotion places is increasing early on. In Gelsenkirchen, which before the season had announced long-term goals as a club in the top 6 in the Bundesliga, there is a very stimulating climate. The temporary suspension of Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann by Thomas Reis caused further unrest in addition to the previous failures.
Reis: “Enemy made unnecessarily strong”
Because unlike after the relegation in 2021, the substance of the team this season was considered so strong that a direct return to the top floor was also given as a goal by coach Reis. After the draw in Wiesbaden, Reis criticized his team for having “made the opponent unnecessarily strong”, but also saw improvements in some areas. Numerous fans, on the other hand, expressed frustration and will see their team in the lower house in the coming year.
At Hertha, on the other hand, the hopes of promotion had been kept small from the start. As with Schalke two years ago, the Berliners had concerns about licensing before the season. The mismanagement of the past few years led to the sale of the supposed top performers. “Maybe Hertha BSC’s rise will take three or four years, as it looks at the moment,” said Dardai. “First a year as a transition, then a year for stability, then you get three or four position-specific players, then you’re already at year three.”
The fact that it can take quite a while is also evident at HSV. But at the beginning of this season, coach Tim Walter’s team looks solid. The defensive in particular seems to have stabilized. The game against Rostock was the third in a row without conceding a goal. Offensively, the Hamburgers have been dangerous for a long time.
