Analysis of the Defeat

The 1-0 by Kai Pröger. Although three goals were ultimately scored in the Jahnstadion, the home team’s opening goal was certainly the final crux of the game. In the run-up to the goal, the home team had become bolder and more determined offensively and had put Marcel Schuhen’s goal in dire straits in two situations. Pröger’s well-placed finish, which found its way into the net via the inside post, made the extremely passionate Regensburg team finally believe in a possible home win. The subsequent half hour was correspondingly difficult for SV 98, who often lost out in the duels against the SSV, who played with top water and especially fought. „Jahn managed to get their game played today,“ explained Florian Kohfeldt and made this explicit praise more specific afterwards: „There were a lot of duels, a lot of running, little calm in the game and we hardly found any space.“ The head coach’s summary rightly referred to the majority of the encounter, but Pröger’s goal tickled the last two or three percentage points out of all Jahn players.

Riedel’s header chance in the 47th minute. After a game, it is always hypothetical to think about possible scenarios and changing course of the game. Nevertheless, it seems very likely that the Lilies would have returned from Regensburg with something worth counting if they had scored the opening goal themselves. In the 47th minute, everyone was already screaming for goal when Clemens Riedel, relatively free-standing, headed just over the goal. It would have been interesting to see how the home team would have reacted to such a setback. But that brings us back to hypotheses. And these don’t bring any points.

The self-criticism. A heavy pitch. Pouring rain. Conditions that are certainly not suitable for a strong team. But the Lilies didn’t even try to make excuses like that. „We don’t have to say a word about it. The opponent plays on the same surface. That’s something that belongs in the second division. And Regensburg simply did it better,“ summed up Kai Klefisch and took himself and his teammates to task: „We were closed passive, didn’t really get into the duels and weren’t where we wanted to be in terms of running.“

The self-criticism shows the Lilies‘ ambition and also the self-image of looking for the reasons for defeat within themselves. So with the things that you can influence and change. An attitude that is important for the rest of this season. One had to expect that SV 98 would lose again at some point. But the way they deal with the defeat shows: the team believes in itself and its own strength. Not just in success.

The morals: „That’s the decision!“ Kicker wrote in their live ticker after Regensburg made it 2-0 in the 91st minute. A certainly logical thought that probably went through the minds of the vast majority of stadium visitors. On the pitch, however, the Lilies showed that they still believed in themselves and the comeback despite the previously rather used day. Aleksandar Vukotic drove his team forward with strong gesticulations immediately after the goal, and Klefisch made the game exciting again less than two minutes later with the subsequent goal. “Is there anything else going on here?” Kicker now asked in their entry. Justifiably so, as the final sequences of the game underlined. Both Vukotic and Riedel sniffed out the late equaliser, and South Hesse’s morale was definitely good.

Playing with the ball: The Lilies were unable to bring their greatest strength onto the pitch in Regensburg. „Too few forward ideas and a lot of mistakes in the build-up game,“ Riedel said in his team’s game; the pass rate was significantly below the values ​​of the previous weeks. „In doing so, we pushed the opponent and the home fans,“ said the Lilien captain, while his coach explained: „We didn’t find the means to make this game better.“

The decisive duels: SV 98 won 57 percent of the duels in the Jahnstadion. A statistically excellent value, especially away from home. And yet one had the impression that the hosts were a bit more determined in the decisive moments, secured more second balls or still got one foot in front of the ball in the penalty area. “Regensburg lost a little bit of our edge in these situations,” admitted goalscorer Klefisch, and captain Riedel saw these moments as a “key factor” for the hosts’ success.