Holstein Kiel not prepared to give up in relegation fight: “Enough points to be awarded.” | OneFootball

A 1-1 draw with fourth-placed RB Leipzig on Saturday afternoon leaves the Bundesliga’s last-placed side hopeful that a miraculous escape from relegation can still be achieved. Suddenly, the arithmetic isn’t looking so bad for Holstein Kiel. Marcel Rapp’s Störche are just three points removed from the promotion-relegation playoff place with four fixtures remaining in the season.

Kiel’s relegation has long been treated as a forgone conclusion. The club itself even recently installed a new sporting director with the tacit aim of preparing for the 2. Bundesliga next year. Kiel still have just one win to their credit in the second half of the 2024/25 Bundesliga campaign, but the fact that direct relegation rivals FC Heidenheim and VfL Bochum also lost this weekend shifts the calculus.

“I sit here as the head coach of Holstein Kiel very proud of the performance of my team,” an elated and energetic Rapp noted at his post match press conference. “It says a lot that I’m [even] disappointed that we were only able to take a point [against Leipzig.

“I think it’s fair to conclude that the performance was a big step forward and that we can build on it,” Rapp continued. “There are enough games left to play, enough points to be awarded.

“If we continue to march forward from this performance, we’ll get enough points,” Rapp concluded.

Rapp’s optimism aside, there remains no denying that his team have by far the most difficult remaining schedule of the three teams currently occupying the bottom three places in the table. A look at the respective opponents left on the docket does not bode well for the north Germans:

The remaining schedule of the three Bundesliga relegation candidates

FC Heidenheim (16th place, 22 points)

Matchday 31–VfB Stuttgart (A)

Matchday 32–VfL  Bochum (H)

Matchday 33–Union Berlin (A)

Matchday 34–Werder Bremen (H)

VfL Bochum (17th place, 20 points)

Matchday 31–Union Berlin (H)

Matchday 32–FC Heidenheim (A)

Matchday 33–FSV Mainz 05 (H)

Matchday 34–FC St. Pauli (A)

Holstein Kiel (18th place, 19 points)

Matchday 31–Borussia Mönchengladbach (H)

Matchday 32–FC Augsburg (A)

Matchday 33–SC Freiburg (H)

Matchday 34–Borussia Dortmund (A)

GGFN | Peter Weis