The 2015/16 Zweite Liga started off with a bang as Kaiserslautern immediately establishes themselves as a team to challenge. That was expected, but the Devils did it in an impressive fashion by destroying Duisburg on the road. The Zebras no doubt are hoping to contend as well, but were quickly shown their limits – they have work to do.
Greuther Fürth is hoping to do much better than last season, and they start nicely with a somewhat lucky win over Karlsruhe. KSC of course barely missed on the Bundesliga, and should contend this season as well. But they were very disappointing.
Not too interesting as two “kult” squads met in Hamburg. St.Pauli has just expanded their stadium, and it was rocking. But it was a tight battle with Bielefeld, and both GK were sharp when they needed to be. Neither side really figures to be a contender, although SP could if things go right. Most likely, both sides would be happy in the secured midfield.
The Battle of the Budgets turned out to be quite interesting. Leipzig is of course backed by RedBull, and has deep pockets. FSV consistently has one of the tiniest budgets in professional ranks, but has managed to stay afloat. The favored Rasenbulls had a hard time, and only took the lead through a defensive mistake. FSV piled on pressure but the Redballs remained firm and desperately fended off the Frankfurt attacks.
Paderborn’s return to the 2.Liga wasn’t a success. They faced Bochum in a hard fought battle, but their attack was too lame. Both sides are looking to contend this season, but the Bochumers looked better prepared as they grabbed the lead and then easily held on. Of course, SCP’s ascent to the Bundesliga was a bit of a surprise, and despite a good accounting, they are back and perhaps a weaker side.
Braunschweig is the big loser of the 1st round. The Lions expected a win against Sandhausen, and actually started brightly. But SVS clamped down on defense and proved to be deadly on counters against a disorganized Braunschweig defense. The result is a stunning away win for the villagers. And it’s a huge win, since Sanhausen is penalized 3 points from last season’s financial shenanigans. This unexpected win basically means that they’re back on track.
Two clubs hoping for better outcomes this season met in Berlin. Union and Fortuna Düsseldorf battled to a hard fought draw.
Heidenheim did well in their inaugural 1st season, and upended 1860, who struggled last year and were almost relegated. The home side looked better, and deservedly take all the points. 1860 was too passive and created nothing.
A gala clash in the first “Montagnachtfussball”, as Freiburg took on Nürnberg. It was awild shootout, and the Breisgauers exploded out of the gate with Nils Petersen nailing a hat-trick in the first 13 minutes. Shell shocked Nürnberg gave up yet another before roaring back to make things close. SCF however simply showed that they deserve to be a co-favorite, as they put away the game with a couple more goals.
Total attendance 170,641 (avg 18,960), sellouts in Duisburg and Hamburg
MSV Duisburg - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1:3 (0:3) 30,500 *
0:1 K. Przybylko (13., Klich)
0:2 Wolze (18., own goal, Zimmer)
0:3 K. Przybylko (29., Vucur)
1:3 Bajic (81., Janjic)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Karlsruher SC 1:0 (0:0) 10,835
1:0 Stiepermann (89.)
FC St. Pauli - Arminia Bielefeld 0:0 (0:0) 29,546 *
FSV Frankfurt - RasenBallsport Leipzig 0:1 (0:0) 7,021
0:1 Sabitzer (55., Rechtsschuss)
SC Paderborn 07 - VfL Bochum 0:1 (0:0) 13,073
0:1 Haberer (61., O. Bulut)
Eintr. Braunschweig - SV Sandhausen 1:3 (1:2) 20,680
1:0 Hochscheidt (29., Boland)
1:1 F. Hübner (31., Paqarada)
1:2 Wooten (41.)
1:3 Bouhaddouz (65., Paqarada)
1. FC Union Berlin - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:1 (1:0) 20,786
1:0 Kessel (5., Trimmel)
1:1 Ya Konan (88., Bebou)
1. FC Heidenheim - 1860 München 1:0 (0:0) 14,500
1:0 K. Kraus (86., Schnatterer)
Monday:
SC Freiburg - 1. FC Nürnberg 6:3 (4:1) 23,700
1:0 Petersen (8., penalty, Grifo)
2:0 Petersen (11., penalty, Philipp)
3:0 Petersen (13.)
4:0 Frantz (41., Petersen)
4:1 Möhwald (44., Stark)
4:2 Behrens (47., D. Blum)
4:3 Schöpf (53., penalty, G. Burgstaller)
5:3 Philipp (61., Mujdza)
6:3 Schuster (90. + 1, Frantz)
1 SC Freiburg (A) 1 1 0 0 6:3 +3 3
2 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1 1 0 0 3:1 +2 3
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3 VfL Bochum 1 1 0 0 1:0 +1 3
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4 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1 1 0 0 1:0 +1 3
5 1. FC Heidenheim 1 1 0 0 1:0 +1 3
6 RasenBallsport Leipzig 1 1 0 0 1:0 +1 3
7 1. FC Union Berlin 1 0 1 0 1:1 0 1
8 Fortuna Düsseldorf 1 0 1 0 1:1 0 1
9 Arminia Bielefeld (N) 1 0 1 0 0:0 0 1
10 FC St. Pauli 1 0 1 0 0:0 0 1
11 SV Sandhausen 1 1 0 0 3:1 +2 0
12 FSV Frankfurt 1 0 0 1 0:1 -1 0
13 Karlsruher SC 1 0 0 1 0:1 -1 0
14 1860 München 1 0 0 1 0:1 -1 0
15 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 1 0 0 1 0:1 -1 0
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16 Eintracht Braunschweig 1 0 0 1 1:3 -2 0
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17 MSV Duisburg (N) 1 0 0 1 1:3 -2 0
18 1. FC Nürnberg 1 0 0 1 3:6 -3 0
1st line: Promotion to Bundesliga
2nd line: Playoff with 16th Bundesliga
3rd line: Playoff with no.3 of 3.Liga
4th line: Relegation to 3.Liga
A = Absteiger just relegated
N = Neuling just promoted
Sanhausen deducted 3 points as penalty for financial irregularities