Weeks of truth for VfL Bochum. The bottom three teams await in the next three games. The first game is away to Mainz.

Keven Schlotterbeck is a man of clear words. This was also the case after three defeats for Bundesliga club VfL Bochum. 2:5 against Gladbach, 1:4 against RB Leipzig, 1:2 against SC Freiburg.

The central defender, who is on loan from SC Freiburg, puts his finger in the wound ahead of the basement duels against Mainz, Darmstadt and Cologne. After the 2-1 defeat against the club he is still under contract with, he said: “If you look at Gladbach and Freiburg, there is a lot of self-inflicted blame. We can and must do better if we want to get points. With the intensity that Freiburg brought to the pitch, you have to beat them. It felt like they were in front of goal twice. But we weren’t that compelling in front of goal either, so a win for us wouldn’t really have been deserved.”

Schlotterbeck, of all people, had the 2:2 on his head shortly before the end. He was annoyed for a long time about the missed opportunity: “It wasn’t that difficult. I wanted to press the ball, but I didn’t hit it perfectly, so it went over the crossbar. But it should have been on target from six meters. That really annoys me.”

After three defeats, it is now time to focus on the duels that will decide whether VfL will go into the final weeks with a cushion or whether the relegation battle will get really tense once again.

Schlotterbeck emphasizes ahead of the game in Mainz on Saturday (3:30 p.m.): “You feel pressure in every game. Now come the duels where it counts. We could have had a good cushion, but we’ve missed out on that in the last three matches. You shouldn’t lose the next four games. “

They play with brutal intensity, they press high. We have to be prepared for that

Keven Schlotterbeck on the next opponent Mainz

However, the performance in Mainz is already a real acid test, even if FSV recently went down mercilessly in Bavaria. Schlotterbeck: “If we lose in Mainz, we’ll only be six points ahead of Mainz. You shouldn’t underestimate the fact that they have a new coach. They play with brutal intensity, they press hard. We have to be prepared for that. We have to work everything off there so that we can take points with us.”

Otherwise, not only will they be six points behind Mainz, but if 1. FC Köln score at home against Leipzig on Friday, FC would also be closer to VfL again. VfL remained unbeaten in the first leg quadruple-header against the bottom three and Heidenheim – picking up one win and three draws