DEAD RUBBER? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Saturday, 20. May 2017, 12:05 Uhr
The Boys in Brown travel to the Ruhr for the season finale at VfL Bochum on Sunday. In front of a sell-out crowd at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion, Ewald Lienen's side will be looking to end the campaign on a positive note, improve their position in the TV rankings, and write a new chapter in the club's history.
What a second half of the season it has been. During the winter break no one would have risked even a cent on Ewald Lienen's team. But with togetherness, application and iron will, the Boys in Brown hit a rich vein of form from January. Setbacks such as the unfortunate home defeat against VfB Stuttgart in the opening game of the year were not enough to knock them off their stride. An almost historic run culminated in the 2-1 win at Kaiserslautern on 5 May, when goals from Aziz Bouhaddouz and Christopher Buchtmann secured the club's second division status with two matches left to play. All that is no reason to take the foot of the gas just yet, however.
For Philipp Heerwagen, the task is to continue the momentum from a superb run-in. "We mustn't let up now," he said. "We want to go into next season with a good feeling." A massive contingent of 4,500 travelling fans will no doubt contribute to that good feeling. "It's great the away section is sold out," said Lienen, clearly impressed. "For that reason alone we have to push ourselves to the limit once again."
Yet the fans are not the only reason for the players to give their all one more time. The higher the Boys in Brown finish in the league table, the better their position in the TV money rankings, which determine the amount of cash that is distributed to each club next season. And last but not least, the team will guarantee themselves a place in the history books if they can win at Bochum. Because then the Boys in Brown would have collected 34 points in the second half of the campaign, one more than their record-breaking haul in the 1997/98 season.
So when the Aux Armes chant rings out from the away section before kick-off on Sunday, it will be anything but a dead rubber. It will be about going to the limit one more time for the fans, the TV rankings and, just a little, for the club's history books. And, between you and me, maybe also for the atmosphere in the party coach on the football special, to which the excellent choice of music will also play a part.
Photo: Witters
