2nd League: Outsiders Holstein Kiel celebrate the autumn championship

Despite the upheavals of summer

“Leaders, favorites, hey, hey,” the Holstein Kiel fans sang and celebrated a perfect end to the first half of the season. With a confident 3-0 victory against Hannover 96 on Saturday evening, Kiel secured their fifth consecutive victory in the 2nd Bundesliga. “We are happy with the standings, the points and also the way we are playing. This makes us very proud,” said coach Marcel Rapp.

What no one could have expected before the season: Now it’s an entirely new team celebrating Christmas as fall champions – not the league’s big names. For undefeated FC St. Pauli, there are more draws than victories. At third-placed Hamburger SV, coach Tim Walter’s future remains uncertain, even after the 2-0 victory in Nuremberg. Hertha BSC, relegated to the Bundesliga, is already ten points behind Kiel after a 0-0 draw against Osnabrück, bottom of the standings. At FC Schalke 04, there is a gap of 15 points.

This summer there was a big upheaval in Kiel. 15 players left the club, including long-time players such as former captain Hauke ​​Wahl (29), veteran Fin Bartels (36) and winger Fabian Reese (26). In exchange, nine new players were added. However, there were no fit issues. Four of the first five games of the season have already been won.

“I think a lot of things were done well with the additions,” said forward Benedikt Pichler (26). “Every player recruited is really extremely hungry. No player considers Kiel as the last step of his career and wants to finish his career slowly. This is an excellent development opportunity, especially for young players.

For example, 19-year-old full-back Tom Rothe, on loan from Borussia Dortmund, has already been directly involved in seven goals. Or central defender Colin Kleine-Bekel, 20, also trained at BVB but under contract in Kiel since the summer of 2022 and who has already played four international matches for the German U21 national team. KSV’s team value has increased by around 41 percent since the transfer deadline this summer, with only Nuremberg ahead of Kiel in the percentage rankings. In comparing team value to league standings, only St. Pauli has a greater advantage.

Holstein Kiel relies on a large squad and does not put pressure on itself

Another strong point is the width of the team, especially in attack. The fact that the two top scorers so far, Pichler (seven goals) and Steven Skrzybski (31; five goals), missed the last two matches of the first half of the season was easily made up for thanks to the Japanese international Shuto Machino. (24) and the rising Fiete Arp (23). . Arp in particular is in great shape. The former HSV and FC Bayern striker also scored twice against Hannover (minute 27/45), but then had to leave the field injured.

“For me, it’s just a great finish because I worked hard to get there,” Arp said. On the chances in the promotion race, he said: “We don’t put a lot of pressure on ourselves. I think we are simply experiencing a positive development. We have the confidence that we have gained and we have this hunger to continue to score points and stay at the top.

As a Christmas present, before the last match of the year, there were also contract extensions with veteran midfielder and co-captain Lewis Holtby (33; until 2025) and goalkeeper Timon Weiner (24 years old; until 2027) – a complete pre-success -Christmas celebration.

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