VfB Bottrop welcomes Rot-Weiss Essen for a test match on Tuesday evening (6.30 pm). We spoke to the Bottrop side ahead of the game.

0:12 in summer 2019 and 0:11 in preparation 2020: those were the last results from VfB Bottrop’s point of view against Rot-Weiss Essen. On Tuesday, 4 July 2023 (6.30 p.m.), this comparison will take place again in Bottrop’s Jahnstadion.

“This is a highlight for the city of Bottrop and our VfB. In 2019, there were around 1500 spectators. We hope that at least 2000 fans will come now. The weather should play along and we welcome a highly attractive third division team. RWE simply draws. We are really looking forward to the game,” says Gündüz Tubay, boss and doer of VfB Bottrop.

VfB has been relegated from the Landesliga to the Bezirksliga and, like RWE, has been preparing for the new season for about a week. “We want to form a unit again after the big disappointment and learn the lessons from the relegation year. We’re not doing any more experiments here, we’re just trusting ourselves. Us, for whom VfB is important and those who work for the club with heart and passion. On the road, of course, we want to return to the Landesliga. Maybe we can already show against RWE that we have put together a decent team,” says Tubay.

Devin Müller has actually been part of this team for years. But the central defender has to miss Tuesday evening of all nights. “I’m going to Mallorca. My girlfriend didn’t want to hear about any rebookings. That would have been expensive. That’s a really bitter story for me,” says Müller, who played for RWE for five years and also lives in Essen.

He adds: “I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the boys before the forecast live ticker. Maybe we can acquire a few new spectators in a game like this after relegation. For that, we have to sell ourselves as dear as possible.”

Tubay is also hoping for a single-digit defeat, including a goal scored by himself. But most importantly, he stresses, “I hope there are no injuries this time. That’s always the most important thing in a game like this.” He, too, probably still has the images of 2020 in his mind when the then RWE professional David Sauerland tore his cruciate ligament.