The promotion race in the 3rd League offers so much that the nonexistent title race in the Bundesliga could use. A commentary.

Cottbus, Duisburg, Osnabrück, Verl, Essen, Rostock, Wiesbaden: At first glance, these seven cities have little to nothing in common, but upon closer inspection, they have quite a lot. For they are the protagonists of an exciting 3rd League promotion race. Thank you for that.

As a fan of a Bundesliga team, I naturally follow closely a league in which Bayern has almost always won the title for over a decade and where, every year, they face the same more or less interesting opponents. The Bundesliga has degenerated into a boring spectacle featuring teams, two-thirds of which—from my personal, romantic perspective—have no business being in the top flight.

As an aside: There’s no question that they’ve earned their place through purely athletic performance. Because that’s what it comes down to in the end.

The real spectacle, however, is taking place in the 2nd and 3rd divisions. The third division, in particular, is thrilling. Five powerhouse clubs with rich traditions are battling for promotion there, swapping places week after week. Add to that SC Verl and Wehen Wiesbaden, who are also in the mix.

The third-division promotion race thrills fans every weekend. Just take last weekend, for example. On Saturday, league leader Energie Cottbus set the stage for an exciting Sunday with a 0–0 draw at FC Ingolstadt. VfL Osnabrück did its part with a 2–0 win over TSV Havelse and is now also watching to see what Hansa Rostock, Rot-Weiss Essen, and—in a head-to-head matchup—MSV Duisburg and SC Verl will do.

Hansa squandered a 2-0 lead in their season opener against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II. This gives Rot-Weiss Essen the chance to end its Tivoli curse starting at 4:30 p.m. and then watch as MSV Duisburg and SC Verl take points away from each other.

We know how it went: Alemannia Aachen had Rot-Weiss Essen under control for a long time before Dickson Abiama finally ensured that Essen would at least take one point back to Hafenstraße.

This was the chance for MSV Duisburg and SC Verl to become the big winners of the matchday with a victory in their head-to-head matchup. Alongside VfL Osnabrück, it was MSV Duisburg that emerged as the winner thanks to its 4–2 victory. The Zebras are in second place, one point behind league leader Energie Cottbus.

A six-point lead—the same margin by which Bayern leads second-place Dortmund—separates Cottbus from Wehen Wiesbaden in seventh place. Twelve points—the same margin by which Bayern leads TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (third place)—separate Cottbus from FC Ingolstadt (tenth place), the TSG reserve team (eleventh place), and VfB Stuttgart II (twelfth place). Three cheers for the 3. Liga, which delivers year after year what the Bundesliga lacks.