Opponent check: VfL Bochum

VfL is now playing its third season in the top German league. But this fact was in doubt for a long time last season. They slipped into the relegation place on the penultimate matchday. Thanks to Keven Schlotterbeck’s equaliser at the very last second, VfL was able to at least take a point away from the capital in the 1-1 draw at Hertha BSC. The team from Castroper Straße escaped the threat of relegation on matchday 34 with a 3-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen. “Last season we felt like we were relegated three times and still managed it,” head coach Thomas Letsch recently summarised in retrospect. His team is currently in the middle of a relegation battle again.

However, with six points ahead of the relegation place, the Bochum team are not in acute danger. The current fifteenth place in the table is having a changeable season. The start went completely the wrong way. They lost 5-0 to VfB Stuttgart. VfL then stabilised and can particularly rely on its home strength, which the Lilies also have to adapt to. Only three games were lost in the Ruhr Stadium at home. Bayern recently also felt the power in their own stadium. Thanks to the 3-2 sensational win, Bochum climbed to eleventh place on Matchday 22.

But recently things went downhill again for Thomas Letsch’s team. They only won one of the last eight league games. The last four matches were all lost with a goal difference of 4:13. „We’re missing the last punch at the moment. We haven’t defended sharply enough. We’re missing the final momentum, creativity and compulsion,“ Thomas Letsch recently analysed at the press conference after the defeat in Mainz. But he was also optimistic and combative in view of the current situation and the upcoming task against SV 98: „We are confident in ourselves. We have a great team. Nobody has stayed in the league with 25 points. So we will get a few more.“ We’ll take a closer look at the Lilies‘ upcoming opponents before the away game on Sunday (31.03/7.30pm). VfL Bochum in the opponent check.

Bochum’s coach used to be a teacher in Lisbon. What may now sound like a made-up story to some actually happened. Taken literally, the term “football teacher” probably applies to hardly anyone better than Thomas Letsch. The now 55-year-old was still studying mathematics and sports to become a teacher while he was a trainer. At the same time, the Swabian worked as a trainer and at his old high school in Plochingen, which he had attended as a student. “It was hard to imagine getting into the professional field as a coach back then,” said Letsch, describing his situation in a club interview and his decision to want to do something new, even though he had just been promoted to the regional league with his former club, SG Sonnenhof Großaspach.

Letsch wanted to go into school abroad and, after an inquiry, finally decided to move to Lisbon with his family. He worked there at a German school for three years. “I wanted to stay longer, but then football got in the way,” said Letsch. This was followed by coaching positions in Austria and at Erzgebirge Aue. He didn’t make it into the top leagues as a player: “It wasn’t enough to become a professional. It also has nothing to do with injuries. I just wasn’t good enough.“

Letsch’s big breakthrough came as a coach in the Netherlands at Vitesse Arnheim. With Arnheim he averaged 1.61 points in 101 games and finished fourth and sixth. The coach established high pressing and direct forward play: „Everyone was skeptical, what is he doing? Now people are excited,“ said Letsch in an interview with sport1 at the time. In the 2021/22 season he reached the round of 16 of the UEFA Conference League with Vitesse. For comparison: In the current season the club is currently second to last in the Eredivisie. Outside the Netherlands, however, almost no one knew the coach, which was also proven by Jürgen Klopp at a press conference when he did not know Letsch’s name when asked by a journalist. The Swabian is a communicative guy and gets people on board. He has been in charge at Bochum since 2022. With VfL he secured safety for the second time in a row.

The highlight of the Bochum team is their fighting nature, which is statistically reflected in two areas in particular: home strength and duel strength. VfL have only lost out three times this season on their home Castroper Straße. Only five teams have lost less often at home. Up until the 23rd matchday there was only one home defeat against Gladbach. Before Leipzig and Freiburg also managed to defeat Thomas Letsch’s team in their home Ruhrstadion.

Nobody can beat VfL when it comes to duels either. 2781 duels won – that’s the league lead. No other club has won as many headed duels as VfL with 742. First and foremost, of course, should be mentioned Bernardo, who is the best tackler in the league with a total of 385 duels won in this category. The Bochum team is also strong when it comes to the number of duels. In addition to Bernardo, Keven Schlotterbeck and Ivan Ordets also have a duel rate of more than 60 percent.

Bernardo in the Bayern jersey? And in the early 90s? The explanation is quickly found. Despite the clearly recognisable similarities, it was not Bernardo from VfL Bochum, but the 28-year-old’s father. Bernardo Senior made four Bundesliga appearances for the record champions in 1991. If the father was playing in the defensive midfield, the son was drawn further back, even though his role model in Rogério Ceni was a goalkeeper. As a child, he always wanted to score and emulate his idol, but the man with the number 5 on his shirt ended up in defense – with success. He is currently the best tackler in the league with 385 duels won in this statistic.

During his time in Salzburg, the Brazilian said: “I am a fighter. I always want to win.” Bernardo has been lacing up his football boots for VfL since this season. He demonstrated his fighting nature in his first training session and has been a very important building block in Bochum’s defensive system ever since. After his time in Austria, Bernardo lacked match practice, but he quickly became a regular and long-time favourite and only missed one game, and that was because of a yellow card suspension. At the beginning of the season, he was left central defender but since November left full-back – he is convincing.

Coach Thomas Letsch is also enthusiastic about his defender: „It’s extremely unpleasant for his opponents to play against him. When you think you’re past him, he’s suddenly in front of you again. He’s shown from the start that with his international experience, he is a great reinforcement for us,“ he said in the first half of the season. The coach is convinced of Bernardo’s class and actually sees him as being called upon for higher tasks: „He was always unlucky. Otherwise I don’t think he would play for Bochum.“ The Brazilian himself remains modest and praised the fans and the support in a club interview: „There is a special energy in our stadium. It is very loud. Every opponent who comes here has a problem.“ The SVD doesn’t just have to be prepared for tough duels.