SV Genc Osman are in acute danger of relegation in the Landesliga 2 Niederrhein. Even a win on the last matchday might not mean staying in the league.
SV Genc Osman Duisburg is one of the main players in the exciting relegation final in the Landesliga 2 Niederrhein. In addition to SV, three other teams, separated by only two points, are fighting to stay in the relegation zone. Three of the four teams will have to go down to the Bezirksliga after this matchday.
But that is not the end of the drama: Spvgg. Sterkrade-Nord, of all teams, two points ahead of Genc with 29 points, is the opponent of the Duisburg team on the last matchday. If SV win this match, they will still not be definitively secured, as their fate depends on the other competitors VfB Bottrop and SF Broekhuysen. This means that if Genc win, Broekhuysen and Bottrop can only get a draw, in which case SV will remain in the Landesliga.
Ilyas Basol, coach of the Duisburg team, no longer expected his team to be able to avoid relegation on this match day: “We were practically already relegated after the last match. But both Broekhuysen and Sterkrade also lost their games, which is the only reason we are still alive. But that makes our own defeat against Lowick all the more bitter.”
But unexpected things often happen, Basol agrees: “The minimal chance is there now. It will still be damn tough because it’s always hard to play in Sterkrade. But hope dies last and in football anything is possible.” The SV coach also points to the current strength of VfB Bottrop, whom he describes as the “in-form team in the league”. Either way, a Bottrop victory would mean certain relegation for Genc, as the direct comparison goes to Bottrop.
A possible relegation to the district league would not come as a great surprise to Basol: “For three years we have been more or less staggering around at the bottom of the table. The Corona pandemic hit us hard and at some point it simply gets to the players’ substance if they always have to play to stay in the league. Relegation would still be very bitter and it will be a tough slog to get back up from the Bezirksliga.”
In the upcoming relegation summit against Sterkrade, it is important to Basol that everything is done in a sporting and fair manner, that both teams can shake hands after the game despite the explosive situation and that his team leaves the pitch with their heads held high. However, the Genc coach will have to do without his defender Burak Bayram, who has to serve a yellow ban. Apart from that, the 55-year-old can draw on a full complement of players.
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