🔥 Trashtalk at its finest! Bundesliga club wants rival to go down | OneFootball

This game is clearly making history — and could seal another one at the same time! 

For the first time ever, a female head coach will be standing on the touchline for a Bundesliga match this weekend. This could even be extended to all of Europe’s top five leagues. Marie-Louise Eta can therefore be certain of attention across Germany — and indeed around the world. 

The 34-year-old successor to the dismissed Steffen Baumgart is taking over Union at a crucial stage of the season and is immediately in the spotlight. Because: the clash with VfL Wolfsburg promises maximum sporting drama!

Negative record within reach!

The opponents from the automotive city are in deep trouble. With five matchdays left in the season, they are four points behind the relegation playoff spot. They are even an almost insurmountable seven points away from a guaranteed safety spot. It was no coincidence that coach Dieter Hecking recently said: “It’s probably only about 16th place now. We shouldn’t kid ourselves about that."

And let’s be honest: given their record in the second half of the season so far, VfL shouldn’t. Three points from twelve matches. Not a single win. Instead, three draws and nine defeats. That’s not just bad — it’s approaching a historic low. In fact, Wolfsburg are currently on course for the worst second half of a Bundesliga season in history. 

The negative record is still held by fellow Lower Saxony club Hannover 96. In the second half of the 1985/86 season, the traditional club picked up a miserable four points. If the Wolves fail to pick up any more points in their remaining five matches, that mark would actually be surpassed in the worst possible way — and the first relegation in the club’s history would be sealed. 

Union provokes Wolfsburg to the limit

And this is exactly where the duel with Union takes on an extra, rather spicy layer. The reason: in the east of the capital, they seem genuinely eager to see Wolfsburg go down. After the 1-1 draw against fellow strugglers St. Pauli, the club published a brutally provocative post on its Instagram channel a few weeks ago. 

It showed a well-known meme from the series “The Office.” As if a deal had just been closed, two men are shaking hands. On one side it says “Wolfsburg relegation,” on the other “giving St. Pauli a point.”

Source: Berliner Kurier

The message behind it was unmistakable: they viewed their own draw as a contribution to Wolfsburg’s detriment in the ruthless Bundesliga relegation battle. The post was later deleted, but the message will certainly not have gone unnoticed by VfL. 

So is that kind of move smart? Sure, a bit of social media provocation is part of the game these days. And Union is now known for maintaining clear, sometimes edgy public communication. Still, it opens them up to criticism. What’s more, it gives Wolfsburg extra motivation and, in the best case for them, a narrative for the dressing room. Along the lines of: “They want to see us go down!”

Wolves looking to hit back

Whether and to what extent this trash talk has gotten into the Wolves’ heads will be seen on Saturday afternoon. One way or another, things should get heated on the pitch. Because the Iron Ones are not safe yet either. Managing director Horst Heldt made that clear in the context of Baumgart’s dismissal. “Our situation is still dangerous, and we urgently need points to secure our Bundesliga status,” he stated plainly.

Union could pick up exactly those points in the direct duel with Wolfsburg. A win against the second-bottom team would rule out direct relegation and also make a relegation playoff significantly less likely on the road to survival. 

So while the Köpenick side could all but secure safety, VfL are clinging to one of their last remaining lifelines. Getting one over on Union’s loudmouthed social media team would, at most, be a nice side effect.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 RALF HIRSCHBERGER - AFP or licensors