The chaos season is not over yet: VfB Stuttgart missed out on staying up and has to be relegated.
The state of shock after the crash on the relegation place lasted only briefly. Only minutes after the meager 1:1 (0:0), VfB Stuttgart was already trying to approach the mission of staying up with positive feelings. Sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth emphasized that it would be “crucial that we see this as an opportunity, not as a burden and a burden.”
CEO Alexander Wehrle also urged the team to “stay positive. We still have it in our own hands,” he said, speaking of “two more match points”.
VfB is threatened with the third relegation in seven years, the fourth overall. The equalization of Tiago Tomas (80th) after a deficit by Ihlas Bebou (75th) was not enough. After a turbulent season with three changes of coach, the relegation on June 1st and 5th is against 1. FC Heidenheim or Hamburger SV.
The fact that the Swabians slipped down to 16th place on the last day of the game was by no means a reason for coach Sebastian Hoeneß to spread “doomsday mood”. When he took over the team at the beginning of April as the bottom of the table, relegation was “a very, very lucrative opportunity”, emphasized the 41-year-old.
Even the disappointed professionals quickly looked ahead again. “Today we can still be disappointed, from tomorrow we have to focus again,” said Waldemar Anton on Sky. The opponent “doesn’t matter to him, we have to look at ourselves. Everyone knows what will be important.”
But Stuttgart should be warned: After VfB had to play in relegation for the only time so far at the end of the 2018/19 season, Union Berlin faced the third Bundesliga relegation in the club’s history.
Another relegation after 1975, 2016 and 2019 would hit VfB hard. It is estimated that this would cost the five-time German champion around 40 million euros.
Weeks ago, those responsible announced a tough analysis after Hoeneß had the fourth coach in office. “There can’t be a third season like this,” said Wehrle: “We have to draw the right conclusions.”
