After 21 matchdays, the second division is even more exciting than last season. This is partly thanks to Schalke 04. A comparison.

The second third of the 2025/26 season is drawing to a close, and the truly intense phase is about to begin. Who has what it takes to secure promotion to the top flight?

So far this season, there have been many changes compared to last year. That’s why we’ve listed five notable changes from the previous season.

1. A single glance at Schalke 04’s position in the standings makes it immediately clear that the Ruhr Valley club from Gelsenkirchen has improved tremendously. At this time last year, they had only 24 points (14th place). Now, S04 sits in second place with 41 points, and promotion is within reach.

2. At 1.FC Magdeburg, however, the situation is quite different. A staggering drop of twelve points, which is also reflected in their current league position: 15th place, fighting relegation. The departure of top scorer Martijn Kaars to FC St. Pauli last summer is partly to blame for this slump in performance.

3. One team has likely taken just as big a step into the upper half of the table as S04—namely SV Darmstadt 98. The Lilies secured the top spot in the table on Matchday 21 with 41 points. By comparison, last year’s promoted team, 1. FC Köln, had 40 points at this stage. Darmstadt, on the other hand, was stuck in the middle of the pack in the 2. Bundesliga (12th place) with 25 points at that point.

4. In general, regarding the promotion race in the 2. Bundesliga, things are actually a bit tighter in the top third than they were last year. Back then, a full six points separated league leaders 1. FC Köln and fifth-place Fortuna Düsseldorf. This year, there are only three points between SV Darmstadt 98 and Hannover 96 (fifth place). Furthermore, in addition to the promoted teams Cologne and Hamburg, five other teams—1. FC Kaiserslautern, 1. FC Magdeburg, and Fortuna Düsseldorf—were in the top five at that time compared to the current standings.

5. The relegation battle is extremely tight. Arminia Bielefeld (11th place) and SpVgg Greuther Fürth (18th place) are separated by just five points. Last year, after 21 matchdays, Fürth was in 11th place and had a 12-point lead over the bottom-placed team, SSV Jahn Regensburg.