Magdeburg's system failure at an inopportune time
1. FC Magdeburg had a chance to take a step forward in the promotion race on Friday evening, but crashed into the wall at high speed. Coach Christian Titz tried to explain the 5-0 defeat against Münster in a matter-of-fact way.
Magdeburg coach Christian Titz saw his team suffer a 5-0 defeat on Friday evening. IMAGO/Christian Schroedter
The 2. Bundesliga has already produced many unexpected outcomes this season. However, Magdeburg's 5-0 defeat to relegation candidate Preußen Münster on Friday evening was probably not on the cards for most people.
Before Matchday 32, FCM held pole position in the race for third place and even had Hamburger SV, which meant they had a direct promotion spot, behind them. So, somehow, all of this is quite difficult to explain, although the result didn't quite reflect the course of the game. Magdeburg coach Christian Titz also mentioned this.
"If you look at the game, it wasn't a game with that scoreline, but it was a bit different," Titz said on the Sky microphone after the final whistle, offering some explanations afterwards: "One thing was, of course, that we conceded three goals from four shots on goal. We didn't defend well several times and unfortunately didn't get a single shot on goal when we had opportunities."
The fact that Magdeburg was denied a penalty at the beginning of the second half - when the score was already 0:3 - resulted from Alexander Nollenberger being offside beforehand, and was therefore the correct decision by referee Felix Prigan.
Nevertheless, Titz struggled with the situation: "If we get the clear penalty, you can change this game again, because you might get a second wind with the goal." Instead, a minute later, the bell rang for the fourth time behind FCM goalkeeper Dominik Reimann .
Magdeburg only fifth - but still in the middle of the raceAfter the results of their rivals, it's clear: 1. FC Magdeburg has slipped to fifth place, two points behind SC Paderborn and SV Elversberg. The latter is in third place due to a significantly better goal difference. "They'll be sitting there and really fretting about it, because we know what we did today with the result and the many goals conceded."
With a five-point deficit to 1. FC Köln, who currently hold a direct promotion spot behind league leaders Hamburg, direct promotion should no longer be an issue for Magdeburg. However, with a two-point deficit, it's self-evident that the relegation play-off spot is still a realistic goal. On Saturday (1 p.m., LIVE! on kicker), they travel to Paderborn for a direct clash.
Until then, the question-raising 0-5 defeat must be "quickly put behind us."
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