VfL Bochum has managed to escape from the Bundesliga basement. Now, at the end of the year, the league leaders await VfL.
What has been hinted at in recent weeks has been increasingly confirmed. VfL Bochum is hard to beat in the Bundesliga.
The latest record: seven games, six wins for VfL. The only defeat was at TSG Hoffenheim, and in the remaining games – almost all of them basement duels – VfL showed what it is capable of.
Even in the draws against Mainz and 1. FC Cologne, VfL was the dominant team. That’s why VfL sporting director Marc Lettau sums up the season so far like this: “We only have one goal, and that’s to avoid relegation. We didn’t get off to a good start this season. But we’ve been very stable for quite some time now. Even if there was a defeat in Freiburg or Hoffenheim, we are performing much more consistently. That’s why we see ourselves on the right track.”
This was underpinned by the 3-0 win over Union Berlin at the weekend, the next three points earned, as the guests also had to admit. As a result, VfL will go into the final matchday of 2023 with a six-point lead over the relegation place.
This was not to be expected after the first few matchdays, but it seems very difficult to extend the lead on Wednesday (20:30 CET) because they are going to the league leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who have dominated the Bundesliga in the current round.
The Bayer team has not yet suffered a defeat, so Lettau is well aware of what lies in store for Bochum: “We were extremely happy about the win against Berlin at first. Also about the way it came about. Now we face one of the best teams in Germany, if not currently the best, in Bayer Leverkusen. They have many facets, are very difficult to play against. They are strong with and without the ball. We’ll have to come up with something really good. The coaching staff is working on a solution.”
Because Lettau particularly emphasizes the “speed” and “physique” of the Leverkusen team, who also have Florian Wirtz, one of the outstanding individual players, in their ranks. Therefore, nobody expects VfL to get anything out of this game, but that has been the case more often than not this season.
Perhaps the team of coach Thomas Letsch will pull off the next surprise. cb / gp