VfL Bochum not only pulled off the sensation against FC Bayern Munich, but also took a big step towards avoiding relegation.
VfL Bochum have done it again! FC Bayern Munich were beaten 3-2 at the Ruhr Stadium.
“There will be a drink other than water,” VfL coach Thomas Letsch was naturally in a good mood. ”In the end, it’s no reason to celebrate. It’s a good feeling, the guys should enjoy it tonight and I’ll certainly have a grin on my face.”
He had every reason to be. After all, his plan against the record champions went almost perfectly. “We wanted to be brave, even after the negative experience in Munich. We wanted to attack high up, impose our football and that worked well from the start.”
Only Jamal Musiala, who also scored the 1-0 for Bayern, was not contained by VfL in the opening stages. “We were able to rectify that after 20, 25 minutes.” Letsch was particularly pleased with the reaction to falling behind.
“You can’t underestimate the impact of conceding a goal against Bayern. You have the 7-0 defeat in Munich at the back of your mind, and then it’s not so easy.” But his team did not let themselves be deterred. “We came back, equalized with a great transition, and turned the game around with Schlotti’s header, which we certainly didn’t deserve.”
“With passionate fighting spirit and a bit of luck”
In the second half, VfL continued to put up a good fight and were even able to extend their lead through a penalty by Kevin Stöger. ‘After going 3-1 up, it was all about defending with everything we had. Then Manu made two great saves. We deserved to win the game with our passionate fighting spirit and a bit of luck.’
But the decisive factor in the victory was the cohesion within the entire team: “We have a team with a great mentality. The guys push each other, everyone throws themselves into it and wants to defend the goal with everything they’ve got. You could tell the whole week that the team believed that something was possible.”
The three points have seen VfL jump up to eleventh place, with a nine-point lead over the relegation spot. “We’ve played Stuttgart, Dortmund, Frankfurt and Bayern in the second half of the season and are sixth in the second half of the season. 25 points sounds good, we have a cushion, but we also know that we haven’t achieved anything yet. We have to see this through to the end.”
Another big step can be taken as early as next weekend. “We’re now going to Gladbach with a good feeling, of course, knowing that it’s an important game in which it’s about at least keeping the gap or even increasing it.” The foals are in 15th place with three points less.