From the middle of the first half, it was eerily quiet in the Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena. The Ultras left the stadium early during the 1:0 defeat against Regensburg.

For over an hour, only the almost 200 Regensburg supporters who had traveled with them could be heard. In the end, they had reason to celebrate. The leaders from eastern Bavaria won 1-0 at MSV Duisburg and extended their lead in the 3rd division, while MSV Duisburg are now eight points clear of the relegation zone.

However, the lack of support in the Nordkurve was not due to the sporting performance of Boris Schommers’ team, but was probably triggered by a police operation as a result of the protest against the DFL taking on investors.

What happened? As the twelfth minute of the match began, countless toilet paper rolls flew onto the pitch behind the goal and from the back straight. Referee Konrad Oldhafer had to briefly interrupt the match. Nothing new in view of the past few weeks in the top three German leagues

At first, everything went on as usual, but a little later, no more chants could be heard from the MSV curve. A quarter of an hour before the end, the active fan scene made a hasty exit, apparently because the perpetrators had been tracked down. Certainly questionable in a peaceful form of protest

The Ultras missed two more good opportunities for their team, while the remaining fans tried to cheer their team on with occasional battle cries. But in the end, it was not enough for a successful performance against a top team, as was the case a week ago against Ulm.

Schommers is unaware of the discontinued support

Schommers did not notice the silence behind his own goal, as the coach revealed at the press conference. “The only thing I noticed was that my team gave everything until the end and had two chances to equalize.”

The 45-year-old can understand any form of disappointment. “That’s clear. But the team gave 100 percent and wasn’t rewarded. I can understand if individual groups are disappointed. But I believe that the team gave everything they had with a lot of passion. You certainly can’t blame them.”

Winter newcomer Erik Zenga, who made his debut in an MSV shirt in the second half, had a similar view of the incident. “It’s difficult to say, I can’t speak for others. But the fact is, of course, that we are somewhere in the table, and rightly so. It’s clear that the fans are unhappy. You can’t be blinded by that. What matters is our job and that we perform on the pitch. “