Deserved party

The game was a minor matter, even if Freiburg probably needed a goal last to enter the Champions League, but the results on the other places changed quickly. Thus, after the outstanding long-range shot by Palacios in the 97th minute and the 2-1 home victory, the Werkself remains in 3rd place, Freiburg ends the season in 6th place, but may still play in the cup final against Leipzig next week.

The party after the game remains in the memory. The outgoing Rudi Völler climbed over the fence of the North Stand to the fans after the final whistle and addressed his word to the fans. "What was going on here in the stadium today, just terrific," he said - before intoning the Uffta with the supporters. Thank you Rudi for 28 years under the Bayer cross. And thanks also to Baumi for six years of service to the Werkself. You were an important part of the squad.

The Werkself is now off to Mexico for a PR and marketing tour - that's the way it has to be. For the national players, there are still a few international matches to come. I'm looking forward to the next season and the start with the 1st Cup round on the last weekend in July.

But before the season really comes to an end for me, there is still the niemalsmeister review of the 2021/22 season forecast this week.

Done

Thanks to a significant improvement in performance in the second half, Bayer Leverkusen turned the game around at TSG Hoffenheim and thus secured qualification for the 2022/23 Champions League. Done. The important thing is to have achieved the victory under our own steam. But even if we had lost, we would have made it, because Freiburg lost at home to Union at the same time, so we would have been assured of 4th place in any case. Now it's 3rd place and completely deserved.

Why Patrick Schick is currently unsellable for us was clearly seen yesterday. Not every top striker would have scored his two goals like that. And that was certainly the basis for yesterday's victory. Now we can go into the stadium completely relaxed next Saturday and experience a hopefully relaxed home game against Freiburg. But yesterday's victory also has an unpleasant aftertaste, because our victory means that the team from the other side of the Rhine is now in Europe. Maybe they'll say thank you.

Monday is good

Monday games obviously do Bayer good. Yesterday, the Werkself completely deserved to send the Adler from Frankfurt home with 2-0. This and the simultaneous defeat of Leipzig in Gladbach have further improved our starting position for Champions League qualification.

Saturday we go to Hoffenheim. After the promotion of Sinsheim, we always won there in the first years. Then the last few years were rather lukewarm. I think the phantom goal was the crux of the matter. Be that as it may. Three points on Saturday would be brilliant, then we could calmly approach the last task at home against Freiburg as the end of the season. I would be very happy for the team with all its injured.

Today: Could have been worse

Times change so quickly sometimes and today I change the headline of this blog entry from better to worse and it fits. The Werkself doesn't embarrass itself in Fürth, Freiburg only gets a point at home against Gladbach and Leipzig even loses to Union at home shortly before the end. This means that our starting position has improved again.

The story of the game in Fürth is actually quickly told. We fell behind early, quickly equalized and took the lead thanks to a goalkeeper's mistake, then didn't let anything go to waste in the second half and added to our tally.

Three games left until the end of the season and a win against Frankfurt would help us a lot.

Could have gone better

Leipzig is and remains a fearful opponent for the Werkself at home. And last night, too, things could certainly have gone better for us in the important game for the Champions League places. In the end, however, our guys were empty-handed with 0:1.

In the social media, the comments that deny the team the mentality are now piling up again. Sometimes I wonder about the tone, but this seems to be the case not only in football. Many see the Champions League as unattainable four matchdays before the end. That's complete nonsense. As fourth in the table, we have everything in our own hands. Sure, the lead over fifth place has been bigger before, but it's currently one point. The fact is, of course, we have to win next week in Fürth and then at home against Frankfurt. Maybe it's to our advantage that they're on the road more in Europe than in the league, but you could have said that about Leipzig, too.

Good or bad?

0:0 in Bochum. Is that a good or a bad result for the Werkself? First of all, it's good that the defense didn't concede a goal. Bad, on the other hand, is the exact opposite, that our guys didn't score one up front either and that, all things considered, VfL was certainly slightly better. However, one must not forget that Bochum is very strong at home and has beaten Bayern and has also played against Dortmund draw. All in all, we can live with the point. My old saying is: You have to win your home games and score every time away, then you play internationally next year. In that respect, it's okay today, no more and no less.

Magath's tormentor disenchanted

Three weeks ago, I feared the worst when Hertha introduced Felix Magath as their new coach. Somehow, after coach dismissals, the Werkself is always one of the upcoming opponents. Sorrowfully, we have experienced this with the home defeat against Wolfsburg with autumn when Florian Kohfeldt coached the Wolves new.

And Hertha had put their foot down in the first Magath game before the international break, beating Hoffenheim 3:1 at home.  And now us?

No, thank goodness. Bayer hadn't won its last five league games against Berlin and hadn't even scored a goal of its own in its last two home games, 0-0 and 0-1. Admittedly, it wasn't a pretty game, but no matter: in the end it was 2-1 for Bayer and thus we defended third place. As always in the past weeks: the result should have been higher, in the last ten minutes alone there should have been three home goals.

Be that as it may: today it is important to have clinched the three-goal victory. Magath's tormentor didn't disenchant us today and that shows the team's willpower despite the numerous absences