Arminia Bielefeld is relegated from the Bundesliga for the eighth time, RB Leipzig reaches the Champions League.
At the final whistle only the relieved fans of RB Leipzig sang, after a minute of silence the supporters of Arminia Bielefeld held up their scarves and celebrated their team for a brave farewell performance.
East Westphalia could no longer prevent the eighth relegation from the Bundesliga, although they gave everything for the miracle. “We gave everything for ourselves, for the fans, so that you can take away a positive feeling,” said goal scorer Janni Serra after the 1-1 (0-0) win against Leipzig, who qualified again for the Champions League after some tremors. at sky: “But we didn’t win against our direct competitors, that’s why we were relegated.”
Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, who is leaving the club after a total of twelve years, was particularly celebrated. With tears in his eyes, the 29-year-old, who is in conversation with promoted Schalke 04, spoke of a “difficult day”. “I didn’t think it would be that difficult for me,” said Ortega, announcing: “I’ll be back as a fan.”
In the end it was not enough for Arminia to jump to the relegation place. A win would have been a requirement, and VfB Stuttgart would have had to lose heavily.
Leipzig got off to a bad start, Bielefeld before a major upheaval
Serra (70th) put Bielefeld in the lead and fueled at least a little hope for a miracle, Willi Orban (90th + 4) equalized for Leipzig and brought RB into the premier class for the fourth time in a row on his own. RB still has to shake itself quickly. The DFB Cup final in Berlin is in exactly one week. Opponent: Fribourg.
“The last ten minutes weren’t easy,” said Emil Forsberg: “I’m very proud of what we did after the winter break. It wasn’t an easy season. But we’re in the Champions League now and we still have the cup final. We can can’t wait.”
Bielefeld caused a spirit of optimism on Friday with a personnel decision: DSC record scorer Fabian Klos, who had already announced his departure, is still entering a twelfth season. The 34-year-old fan favorite, who suffered a serious head injury against VfB Stuttgart on matchday 28, “didn’t want to leave our stadium lying on a stretcher.”
Apart from that, Bielefeld is facing a huge upheaval: Eight professionals were said goodbye on Saturday, including the long-time goalkeeper Ortega. A new head coach is also being sought, the hottest candidates are Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich II) and Enrico Maassen (Borussia Dortmund II).
With the kick-off, all melancholy was gone: Bielefeld, surprisingly victorious 2-0 in the first leg, threw all their fighting power into the balance again in front of 22,719 spectators against the big favorite.
Leipzig needed about a quarter of an hour to develop solutions against the poisonous opponent. The pressure on the Bielefeld goal grew steadily. In the second half, Serra gave Arminia hope again.
Arminia Bielefeld – RB Leipzig: The voices
Marco Kostmann (Arminia Bielefeld coach): “We drew too many games that we could have drawn. It was important to us that everyone uses this game to show everyone, and above all themselves, that they can keep up in the Bundesliga if they throw everything in. That gives I’m confident for the new season.”
Domenico Tedesco (RB Leipzig coach): “It counts to be where we see ourselves on the last day of the match. We showed a good mentality. The feeling is super, super good.”
